US: NYPD destroys nearly 100 illegal dirt bikes with bulldozer as part of summer crackdown

In the United States of America, on June 21, the New York Police Department (NYPD) dismantled roughly 100 seized dirt motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), and other illegal motorbikes. City Mayor Eric Adams vowed to eliminate the 'dangerous' vehicles from city streets. A video posted on social media by the Mayor's office shows 92 of the illegal vehicles being destroyed by a bulldozer in the Erie Basin Auto Pound in Brooklyn.

The short video also shows the bulldozer getting about halfway through the line before having to reverse and unstick a troublesome motorcycle before roaring back down to finish the job. According to the New York Post, Adams waved a checkered flag, prompting a waiting Department of Sanitation driver to accelerate the bulldozer and demolish the pile of ATVs and other illicit vehicles. At the news conference, the mayor praised the NYPD for completing the "Herculean feat" of removing the 'loud, intimidating, hazardous, and unlawful' dirt motorcycles and ATVs from New York's streets.

“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. And I'm not going to give up on my promise and commitments to rid our streets of these bikes and make all of our boroughs a place where people can move about. As you can see from the number of bikes here today, we are making good on our promise,” Eric Adams stated, New York Post reported. 

NYPD has taken approximately 900 bikes & ATVs off the streets so far this year

He went on to say that the NYPD has taken approximately 900 bikes and ATVs off the streets so far this year. He went on to say that the city chose to destroy the dirt motorcycles rather than sell or give them because it keeps them off the street indefinitely. Watch the video of illegal bikes getting bulldozed here:

Adams added that many of the bikes do not have insurance and that he is pressing for ATV sellers to require proof of insurance and registration documentation before selling the two-wheelers. Authorities hope to rid New York streets of unauthorised motorcycles while simultaneously raising public awareness about the dangerous repercussions of riding them.