Overview
- The NYPD and city sanitation workers crushed more than 200 confiscated scooters and mopeds Wednesday at a Staten Island garage in a high-visibility warning to riders.
- The department reports 5,700 illegal vehicles seized so far in 2026, which is about a 10% increase from the same period last year.
- Police say many of the machines were unregistered, uninsured, or carried fake or altered plates, and they argue the bikes are often used in crimes.
- Officials said the vehicles came from all five boroughs, and the crushed frames will be turned into scrap metal for recycling.
- Leaders cited the stray-bullet killing of 7-month-old Kaori Patterson-Moore by suspects on a moped as a safety concern, and Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella warned riders their bikes could be seized and destroyed.