NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) -- The NYPD seized 240 illegal dirt bikes and ATVs in a single day over the weekend as “fed up” New Yorkers “cheered” them on, police said as they vowed their crackdown is just getting started.
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NYPD Chief of Patrol Jeffrey Maddrey said at a Tuesday press conference that police made a “promise to the community” to get the often-illegal, off-road vehicles off of city streets.
“We made a promise when we crushed bikes before, and we’re going to keep to that promise, and we’re going to continue to move bikes off the streets,” Maddrey said as the department showed off hundreds of confiscated vehicles.
The department has been ramping up its efforts to seize the bikes in recent weeks, with the biggest haul so far on Sunday.
Of the 240 vehicles seized citywide that day, more than 150 were in the Bronx, police said. Nearly 3,000 have been snatched up so far this year and about 400 in recent weeks.
Maddrey said communities have played a pivotal role in the crackdown, with residents sending cops tips about where the bikes are frequently ridden, hidden and stored.
He said New Yorkers showed support for officers as they confiscated the raucous vehicles throughout the day Sunday.
“Video we captured on body camera [shows] people cheering the officers on, encouraging the officers — ‘Take these bikes, they’re dangerous, they make us feel unsafe.’”
“When we take them, we know we’re doing the right thing, because the people of New York call us and they tell us,” Maddrey said.
Maddrey said he couldn’t “reveal all the tactics” used to retrieve the bikes as the crackdown continues. He said police don’t pursue the riders but instead try to “catch them off guard.”
“I also called a truce,” Maddrey said. “I told people who ride these bikes, ‘If you don’t ride them, we won’t take them.’ But they didn’t hear that truce and they continued to ride, so we’ll continue to take.”
The NYPD’s property clerk will send notices out for the bikes. If they’re not claimed in a couple of weeks, they’ll be moved to a crusher.
NYPD officials said the seizures are about improving not only the safety but the quality of life for New Yorkers. They said the vehicles are often used in crimes like shootings and robberies, including most recently at the Bronx Dominican Day Parade on Sunday.
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