So This Is Why the NYPD Is Destroying All Those Illegal Dirt Bikes

Fair enough.

Off-road vehicles are illegal to ride on New York City streets, but it seems like the NYPD is having some trouble enforcing that policy. According to Gothamist, the footage above is from one group of dirt bike and ATV enthusiasts' ride from Brooklyn to Queens last week, and those cars riding alongside are both marked and unmarked cop cars. The police no longer try to stop riders who are on the move after a couple of incidents, one where an officer shot an ATV driver and one where a motorcyclist was struck by a police car. 

This free ride policy hasn't exactly helped the problem, but police say they're now concentrating on nabbing riders when they're stopped and congregated in a park or deserted street, or gassing up at a station. You know, like this:

While the new strategy didn't seem to be too effective there, it has, apparently, led to bikes being confiscated and taken off the street. The NYPD made a triumphant show of that yesterday, when they crushed hundreds of bikes and ATVs in to a rather large hunk of scrap metal. Skip to 29 minutes in to see Police Commissioner Bill Bratton wave the NASCAR start flag to signal the pulverizing can begin:

We'll see if the Gas Station Ambush strategy yields better results in the future.

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