“As we stand in the shadow of the Freedom Tower, we are freeing ourselves of these destructive pieces of machinery that are on our streets. They will be crushed today so that they can never terrorize our city again.”
Those were the words from New York City Mayor Eric Adams today as the city held an event to destroy nearly 100 of what the mayor called “extremely dangerous” machines.
And what were these “extremely dangerous” machines terrorizing New York City?
Dirt bikes and ATVs.
Seriously.
“As we stand in the shadow of the Freedom Tower, we are freeing ourselves of these destructive pieces of machinery that are on our streets. They will be CRUSHED today so that they can never terrorize our city again.”
Good riddance to illegal dirt bikes and ATVs. pic.twitter.com/nfTgwG04eZ
— Fabien Levy (@Fabien_Levy) June 21, 2022
The mayor even waved a checkered flag as the bulldozer took off to drive over the dirt bikes. (This was quite the production but maybe a TAD overdramatic?)
New York City Mayor Eric Adams waved a checkered flag to start a bulldozing event, where 100 illegal dirt bikes and all-terrain vehicles, confiscated by the New York City Police Department, were crushed pic.twitter.com/DuzKOnWwAN
— Reuters (@Reuters) June 22, 2022
The bikes that were crushed are not street legal in NYC, and were confiscated by NYPD as part of the mayor’s promise to step up enforcement efforts and get illegal vehicles off the road. So far this year, around 900 dirt bikes and ATVs have been confiscated this year.
Adams praised NYPD in his press conference:
“The NYPD heard the call, and they did a Herculean task to get rid of these loud, intimidating and dangerous and illegal dirt bikes and ATVs that are on our streets.”
Intimidating? To who? Where I grew up kids started riding dirt bikes long before they could get their learner’s permit. And I’ve been riding four wheelers for literally as long as I can remember.
Now, would they be annoying in a big city? Maybe. But calling them “intimidating” and “extremely dangerous” and saying they’re “terrorizing the streets” of NYC would make pretty much anybody who grew up in the country laugh at the city slickers making such a scene over some dirt bikes and ATVs.
Not to mention it seems pretty wasteful to just crush them instead of selling them to raise some money for the city, or even donating them to people outside of NYC.
Way to sell'em at auction and raise funds to lower the tax burden. Some 🤡world china stuff right there. Congrats on the stupidity.
— Preston Pysh (@PrestonPysh) June 22, 2022
What is even this ?
Wouldn’t this add to waste in the city?
Couldn’t you sell/auction them or maybe give them to people who need transportation or donate outside the city— WendyO.eth✨ (@CryptoWendyO) June 22, 2022
Why not sell them on eBay for Boy Scout camps, etc. Terrific waste. WHT!
— John McLaughlin (@je_mclaughlin) June 21, 2022
Some people even suggested that they should have been donated to Ukraine to use for defense in their fight against Russia.
Wish these had been donated to Ukraine instead of being wastefully destroyed.
Ukrainian Territorial Defence forces are desperately short of transport.
— Vik 🇦🇺 🇺🇦 (@vik8004) June 21, 2022
Just another reason to avoid living in the big city.
