Bill Bratton presides over demolition of seized ATVs, dirt bikes as ‘very strong warning’ to ‘nitwits and knuckleheads’ who ride them
NYPD chief Bill Bratton ordered the crushing clampdown as ATVs grow into an ever larger nuisance.
(Todd Maisel/New York Daily News)
BY
Joseph Stepansky Graham Rayman
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Tuesday, May 17, 2016, 4:15 PM
The city’s top cop looked on as dozens of illegal dirt bikes and ATVs seized by the police this year were crushed into scrap metal in Brooklyn Tuesday.
Commissioner Bill Bratton and other senior NYPD officials watched with glee the destruction at Red Hook’s Erie Basin Auto Pound.
Bratton kicked off the event by waving a white checkered flag, like he was at the Indy 500.
He watched as 69 dirt bikes and eight ATVs were lined up between concrete barricades and two bulldozers on either end then rolled repeatedly over them.
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Rusted, battered red, green, and blue Suzukis, Yamahas, and Hondas, some with racing numbers and stickers, popped and cracked under the weight of the bulldozers.
Bratton relished the moment, describing the vehicles as "destroyed, flattened, crushed."
"We want to send out a very strong message to the nitwits and knuckleheads who insist on operating these illegal vehicles on the streets, sidewalks, parks, and housing developments of the city of New York, creating dangers not only for themselves but more importantly members of the publics," he said.
The bikes were seized by police for a number of reasons, including a lack of registration and unsafe driving.
(Todd Maisel/New York Daily News)
Bratton has been on a campaign recently against the menacing annoyance. On May 1, he called people who ride the bikes “screwballs, idiots, and morons.”
Every year, as the weather warms, New Yorkers complain of people speeding and popping wheelies on dirt bikes and ATVs, thundering through residential areas without mufflers.
The machines are banned here because they can’t be insured for city streets.
"Last year we had five deaths related to ATVs, minibikes, and these off-the-road type vehicles — this year we've had zero,” Bratton said. "We're clearly sending a message that we're crushing them, we have crushed them, and we'll continue to crush them."
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Deputy Commissioner Robert Martinez, who is in charge of removal of impounded property, was also present, along with Chief of Department James O’Neill and Chief of Patrol Carlos Gomez.
So far this year, 679 illegal vehicles have been confiscated by the NYPD — a 96% increase over 2015, officials said.
Bill Bratton watched in delight as the bikes were crushed for scrap.
(Todd Maisel/New York Daily News)
The most seizures this year took place in the Bronx, with 182. There were 108 seizures in upper Manhattan.
Cops have also made 104 reckless driving arrests in connection with the bikes, officials said.
Bratton explained the bikes were crushed rather than auctioned because he didn’t want them back on the city’s streets.
Martinez said the crushed bikes will be sold for scrap metal at 2 cents a pound.
Kenneth Proveaux, 49, was killed when he crashed his ATV in a Brooklyn park and vaulted head first into a concrete barrier in March 2015. He was not wearing a helmet.
Cops arrested ATV rider George Evangelista, 44, for intentionally hitting a police officer with his bike in July 2014. The officer suffered neck and back injuries.
Paul Rodriguez, 35, was killed and a second man was injured, when Rodriguez’s ATV collided with another ATV in March 2014.
