Illegal scooters, ATVs and mopeds are a nuisance in New York City. Riders modify them to be noisy or do dumb stuff like ride them on sidewalks where they pose a danger to pedestrians. Every so often the city sends a message that these illegal vehicles and the stupid activity that comes with them won’t be tolerated by crushing them. That time has come again, as news reports have shown that city officials recently destroyed hundreds of mopeds and scooters.
Officials including NYC Mayor Eric Adams, NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell and NYPD Commissioner Edward A. Caban all went out to Staten Island’s Fresh Kills Landfill where over 200 mopeds, atvs and scooters were crushed by a bulldozer as they took questions and made statements to the press. While these things have been a problem for the city, officials may have been a little extra in how they described how big of a problem they’ve been. For instance, Chell made a statement that made it seem as if there were rolling gangs on mopeds committing crime in the city.
“There’s murderers on these bikes,” said NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell said There are shooters on these bikes, robberies on these bikes. Reckless drivers putting our public at peril.”
However stats show that while over 18,000 illegally registered mopeds and scooters were taken by officials in 2023, just 22 robberies were reported; so far 79 have been reported this year.
Even with those low stats, Mayor Adams said the crackdowns will continue into summer. “We know that many of these scooters that are used legally are used part of the commerce in our city, but far too many are illegal, unregistered. It should not be on our street.”