Holly MatkinBrooklyn, NY – Nearly 100 dirt bikes and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) seized by police were ceremoniously crushed by a bulldozer on Tuesday to send a message to New York City residents about the illegal use of such vehicles on city streets (video below).
“You want to terrorize our neighborhoods?” New York City Mayor Eric Adams tweeted. “You’ll get crushed.”
It is illegal to operate ATVs and dirt bikes in any of the city’s five boroughs, CBS News reported.
The New York Police Department (NYPD) has confiscated and impounded over 2,000 motorbikes so far this year, Adams said.
The mayor held a press conference at a Brooklyn auto pound on June 21 to tell the public about the cooperative effort between the NYPD and his office to eradicate illegal motorbikes from the city’s streets, CBS News reported.
“Dirt bikes and ATVs are not only a nuisance and an annoyance to us, but they are extremely dangerous,” he said, according to Reuters. “The NYPD heard the call and they did a Herculean task to get rid of these loud, intimidating and dangerous and illegal dirt bikes and ATVs that are on our street.”
Illegal dirtbikes and ATVs endanger the lives of New Yorkers. We're not letting them go unchecked.
This year we've already taken nearly 2,000 bikes off the street and we're just getting started.
Get the message: you want to terrorize our neighborhoods?
You'll get crushed. pic.twitter.com/snHjqfWr90
— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) June 21, 2022
The mayor said he opted not to resell the vehicles in order to make sure they wouldn’t wind up back on city roadways, the New York Post reported.
“Today, as we stand in the shadow of the Freedom Tower, we are freeing ourselves from these destructive pieces of machinery,” Adams told reporters. “They will be crushed today so that they can never terrorize our city again. Each and every one of them, they will be turned into scrap metal and eventually recycled.”
Adams stood out in front of a long line of motorbikes and waved a checkered flag just before a large bulldozer fired up and plowed over the offroad vehicles on Tuesday, video footage showed.
He said he plans to push state legislators to create new requirements for ATV retailers, such as mandating that buyers show proof of registration and insurance coverage before they can purchase an off-road vehicle, CBS News reported.
“Many of these bikes don’t have insurance,” the mayor said. “If they strike someone, the person is left with medical costs and other out of pocket expenses.”
NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said the number of bikes confiscated by police so far this year jumped up 80 percent in comparison to the same period last year, CBS News reported.
Watch the incident unfold in the video below:
New York City Mayor Eric Adams waved a checkered flag to start a bulldozing event, where 100 illegal dirt bikes and all-terrain vehicles, confiscated by the New York City Police Department, were crushed pic.twitter.com/DuzKOnWwAN
— Reuters (@Reuters) June 22, 2022
