Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Delivers Remarks and Crushes Illegal Dirt Bikes and ATVs

September 16, 2021

Video available at: https://youtu.be/G_31C3XylEs

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Thanks so much, Chief. I want to thank Chief McEvoy, Commissioner Martinez for the great work they are doing. Everyone, look, we mean business. I want to be very clear to anyone out there that has an illegal dirt bike, don't even think about it, because the NYPD will find it and we'll crush it. It’s as simple as that. We're not playing games.  

We want to send a message here today that these dirt bikes do not belong in New York City. It’s against the law, period. And instead of just talking about the fact it's against the law or giving a summons or anything like that, we're doing the most aggressive thing possible – we're taking the dirt bike away and you're never going to see it again. And we've got to send a message. Why? Because these dirt bikes are dangerous, because they can endanger the lives of the people around – anyone in the neighborhood, a kid, a senior citizen could be in danger, let alone the person riding.  

We need to make clear that we're just not going to tolerate this kind of illegality, and here's a very visual way to get our point across. We also see a high correlation between those who have these illegal dirt bikes and crimes being committed, including shootings. So, we're going to make clear this is not acceptable in New York City. Already, as you heard from the Chief, the Commissioner, hundreds of these dirt bikes have been confiscated. There's going to be more coming, and you know why? Because the community is helping us. And I want to emphasize this, we need the good people of the city to give us the information, we need people to call in those reports, because that's the best way for us to act on. When we know where these bikes are being stored, that's how we get them off the streets.  

So, everyone, we take this really, really seriously. And there are some problems that are tough to overcome, but there are other problems you can smash, and you can crush, and this is one of them. So, I want now to give a moment for everyone to get ready, you guys, to get into positions. And then I will give the order of the day to the guys in the bulldozers who are about to do a great work of justice, and we want to thank you guys for that. Everyone, get into position so you can get the shots you need to get.  

[Bulldozer crushes illegal dirt bikes and ATVs] 

Question: What do you think, Mayor? 

Mayor: I think we put an exclamation point on it here. Look, these guys are doing a great job. We were just talking about, hundreds and hundreds of calls from the community. People hate these things. They're loud, they're obnoxious, they're dangerous. Here's our message – we're going to get them, we're going to crush them. 

It's beautiful. It's actually quite a beautiful sight in its own way. So, well done. Well done. Keep them coming. Thanks, everybody.