New York City Mayor Eric Adams took to social media to share a message with New Yorkers who possess and operate illegal vehicles like unregistered dirt bikes.
“Illegal dirtbikes and ATVs endanger the lives of New Yorkers,” he tweeted. “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.”
On Tuesday, the city’s mayor held a press conference at an auto pound located in Brooklyn, informing city residents that his office and the New York Police Department would work together to remove all illegal bikes from the city, CBS News reported.
“Today, as we stand in the shadow of the Freedom Tower, we are freeing ourselves from these destructive pieces of machinery,” he said. “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.”
During the press conference, Adams had a bulldozer destroy 92 dirt bikes at the Erie Basin Auto Pound Off Gowanus Bay, The New York Post reported.
“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 streets,” said Adams. “For years, we’ve witnessed what happens when they go under control, or we do not enforce. They continue to grow over and over and over again.”
According to CBS News, the city’s police department has removed 2,000 illegal bikes and ATVs from New York City streets since January.
The mayor said that “many of these bikes don’t have insurance. If they strike someone, the person is left with medical costs and other out-of-pocket expenses.” So, he plans to ask state legislatures to create statutes requiring buyers to provide proof of insurance and registration to own a dirt bike or ATV.