Officials crush more than 200 illegal mopeds and scooters seized in 2024 on Staten Island as NYPD implements its summer enforcement strategy to help remove illegal scooters, mopeds, bikes, ATVs, and other registered vehicles from city streets | Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office
Public safety and livability are key to creating a prosperous city where all New Yorkers can be comfortable as they go about their daily lives. That is why the Adams administration is taking two important steps to make our public spaces safer and more restful for residents of the five boroughs. We are cracking down on illegal mopeds and scooters on our streets and sidewalks and increasing the availability of public toilets across the five boroughs.
In the last few years, we have seen a dramatic rise in the use of illegal mopeds and scooters that endanger and terrorize pedestrians when they are driven recklessly. Since 2022, we’ve seen a dramatic increase in criminals using these vehicles to ride around and snatch property, like cell phones, jewelry, and wallets, from unsuspecting New Yorkers. Recently, two of our officers were shot by a suspect who was driving a motorized scooter the wrong way on a street in Queens. Thankfully, the officers were saved by their protective gear, but we are reminded again of the risks that New York’s Finest takes to keep our city safe.
In response to the uptick of illegal behavior, we have seized tens of thousands of illegal mopeds and scooters and destroyed them to prevent them from ever returning to New York City streets. The NYPD will also ramp up a summer enforcement strategy to curb the illegal use of motorized scooters, bikes, ATVs, and other unregistered vehicles; deploy more Community Response Team officers focused on removing these illegal vehicles; and increase the use of strategic checkpoints at bridges, tunnels, and other major roadways and crossings.
These operations have already proven highly successful. Since the start of our administration, we have seized more than 40,000 illegal motorized scooters, mopeds, ATVs, and other illegal vehicles, including nearly 13,000 scooters and mopeds confiscated in 2024 alone.
“We came into office to improve public safety, rebuild our economy, and make New York City more livable for all New Yorkers. Every step we take—whether it’s removing illegal vehicles or creating more public bathrooms—is in service of making the city safer and more livable for everyone.”
If projections hold over the next seven months, we will confiscate over 30,000 illegal mopeds and scooters by the end of 2024 — beating the 2023 record numbers by 72 percent. This is in addition to driving down overall crime in our city. Index crime dropped another 2.4 percent in May, homicides were down more than 20 percent in May, car theft decreased by 9 percent, and transit crime declined by nearly 11 percent. Crime has now dropped every month this year, and because of our efforts, New York City remains the safest big city in America.
In addition to reducing crime, we are also taking care of New Yorkers’ other basic needs — because we’re here for New Yorkers when they’re on the go and gotta go. Over the next five years, in partnership with the Parks Department and the Department of Transportation, we will build 46 new public restrooms and renovate 36 existing restrooms across the five boroughs. This will add to our city’s nearly 1,000 public restrooms in parks, libraries, subway stations, and plazas. And because all the bathrooms in the world won’t help you if you don’t know where they are, we created a Google Maps layer that you can access on your phone to quickly and easily find a public toilet when needed. You can find it at on.nyc.gov/restroom.
We have also installed changing tables in all public restrooms in our parks wherever feasible — three years ahead of schedule. Additionally, we are establishing a joint task force to help site and fast-track approvals for 14 new high-tech, self-cleaning automatic toilets on city streets and plazas.
We came into office to improve public safety, rebuild our economy, and make New York City more livable for all New Yorkers. Every step we take—whether it’s removing illegal vehicles or creating more public bathrooms—is in service of making the city safer and more livable for everyone.
