New York City Mayor Eric Adams this week sent a clear message to residents who own and drive illegal vehicles. “You want to terrorize our neighborhoods? the town hall tweeted. “You’re going to get run over.”

During press conference held Tuesday at a Brooklyn car pound, Adams spoke of a cooperative effort between the mayor’s office and the police department to rid city streets of illegal motorcycles. He then had a bulldozer ceremoniously plow through an array of dirt bikes and ATVs. The vehicles, which are illegal in one of New York’s five boroughs, had previously been confiscated and impounded by the NYPD.

“Today, as we stand in the shadow of the Freedom Tower, we free ourselves from these destructive machines,” Adams said at the press conference. “They will be crushed today so they can never terrorize our city again. Each of them will be turned into scrap metal and eventually recycled.

Police have reportedly seized about 2,000 illegal motorcycles from New Yorkers since January this year, according to NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell. That sum marked an 80% increase over the number of dirt bikes and ATVs removed from city streets during the same period in 2021.

The mayor said he plans to ask the state legislature to implement stricter requirements for ATV retailers so that buyers must provide proof of insurance and registration before buying one. a.

“A lot of these bikes don’t have insurance. If they hit someone, the person ends up with medical bills and other disbursements,” he said.

Adams presented a set of safety initiatives that focus specifically on New York City roads, sidewalks and subways, CBS New York reporting. In the wake of a fatal crash at a Brooklyn subway station last week, where a man was dragged to death after his clothes got caught in the door of the train on the way out, the mayor announced a new MTA campaign to educate passengers about the safest places to stand on subway platforms.