Dirt Bikes Crushed On Staten Island As City Continues Crackdown On Illegal Rides
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Dirt bikes were demolished Thursday on Staten Island in an exhibition meant to rid the streets of reckless riding.
Mayor Bill de Blasio and leaders from the NYPD and Department of Sanitation were there to watch, CBS2's Dave Carlin reported.
"Let's crush these things now," de Blasio said.
What were shining dirt bikes and ATVs are now a mess of metal.
"These dirt bikes do not belong in New York City. It's against the law. Period," said de Blasio.
Before the year is over, the city expects to confiscate and crunch as many as 3,000 of them.
"We're doing the most aggressive thing possible. We're taking the dirt bike away and you're never going to see it again," de Blasio said.
"We will continue to be relentless in taking these bikes off the streets," said NYPD Deputy Commissioner of the Support Services Bureau Robert Martinez.
The rise in these rides gets blamed on a culture that is known to celebrate showing off and reckless riding on social media.
The noise pesters people. The speed is dangerous - sometimes deadly.
"While officers won't chase these riders through the streets, we will be at the locations where they congregate, safely stopping them and using information to seize these bikes if illegally stored," said Deputy Chief Charles McEvoy.
City leaders are eager to crunch up even more of these and they want the public's help finding out where they're being stored.
"With tips, we found abandoned buildings that the basements were filled with them," Martinez said. "And in the different housing units around the city, we find them there as well."
Dirt bikes have been used in serious crimes, like an attack on a postal worker in Greenpoint, Brooklyn on June 30.
Four-year-old Jonathan Beauchamp was struck and injured by a man on a dirt bike in Queens on July 18.
Jonathan's godmother demanded tougher penalties.
"The laws need to be implemented," she told CBS2.
If caught riding a dirt bike or ATV in the city, you could be fined $500. The proposed Jonathan's Law would increase the fine for a first offense to $750.
Police said Manhattan and the Bronx have the most dirt bike and ATV incidents.