The motorcycle above was stolen from West 87th street about three weeks ago.
Nine motorcycles have been swiped in the past month in a relatively small section of the Upper West Side, as a coordinated team of thieves appears to have been making off with several bikes.
Our tipster said that both her husband and brothers’ bikes have been stolen — one of them was actually swiped twice.
“My husband’s motorcycle was stolen 2 weeks ago on 87th street,” she wrote last week. “We reported it stolen and we have surveillance of the theft happening at around 3:45 a.m. Two nights ago, my brother’s motorcycle was stolen (94th street) at around 5:30 pm and recovered in Washington Heights. Last night, the same motorcycle was stolen on 93rd and west end ave and recovered once again in the Bronx (pictured below). My brother has a GPS tracking and was able to recover the bike. The police were able to catch the suspects in Washington heights but they ran off leaving their id’s and the van used in the theft.”
The two images below are from surveillance cameras that captured one of the thefts, according to our tipster. The van that they loaded the bikes into is in the upper right corner.
Captain Marlon Larin of the 24th precinct tells us that motorcycle thefts have become an increasing problem in the precinct (which stretches from West 86th to 110th street), although grand larcenies of automobiles overall are flat on a year-over-year-basis.
Larin confirmed that one motorcycle had been stolen twice, and said that they have identified the suspects and are continuing to investigate. Seven of the thefts have occurred in the area bounded by the following streets:
- East Side: Columbus Avenue
- West Side: Riverside Drive
- North Side: W95St
- South Side: W91St
The NYPD made arrests in July in connection with some earlier motorcycle thefts, Larin said, but are trying to nab the remaining suspects. Officers are looking for any tips or leads from people in the neighborhood.
In case you missed it: there have also been some thefts of catalytic converters in the area.
My bike was parked, locked and covered on Riverside at 5:30PM when it was stolen. I tracked the bike on 177th street. I called the cops to report my bike stolen and after 40 minutes they arrived. They took me in the car and followed the gps to Washington heights. The suspects where already stopped by some alert detectives while unloading the motorcycle. After giving the detectives their ID’s and real name, they took of running and managed to get away. I recovered the bike with only minor scratches.
The next night:
I parked the bike on W93rd and West End Ave, in front of 24/7 doorman. At 4:00AM, I received a motion alert and tracked the bike to the bronx. The cops showed up minutes later and took a police report and told me they were not going to go get my bike. I on the other hand was more inpatient since the thieves had cut the power supply to the GPS and the battery was low. After I got ready and was getting inside my car, the cops blocked me in and insisted on driving me there.
I was taken to 24th precient, where a leiutenant called the 44th precinct and SGT Salinas drove to the location and found the bike hotwired and ignition broken but parked inside a vestibule. I was told that after I was reunited with my bike I was on my own and the “white shirt” would not be responsible for my “demise” if something did indeed happen to me. Honestly, I felt like he was upset with me because my bike was stolen. I offered to save the nypd the hassle of driving me there and said I would use a cab. He said “I am not asking for your permission” so I shut up and was driven to bronx. They pointed out my bike and told me to leave the neighborhood asap.
NYPDs Finest!
Over the last couple of years I have had several bikes stolen from the 70’s WEA/RSD. Police would just take a report and tell me that they weren’t going to look for my bike but if they happen to run into it they’ll call. One bike was recovered in the Bronx after the thieves did something illegal in front of a police car. Thieves dropped the bike and ran off causing some damage. It was stolen again a couple months later for good.
Another bike was “recovered” in Brooklyn 2 years after being stolen. It was in pieces.
A couple of other bikes were never recovered.
Bikes were securely locked to immovable objects.
Luckily, insurance paid off on all of the stolen bikes.
Between bikes being stolen and lovely upper west siders allowing their dogs to pee on bikes and chains I have given up motorcycle riding in NYC for now.
What kind of chain did you use to lock it? How thick was it?
Did they use power tools to cut it?
Re: “…I have given up motorcycle riding in NYC for now.”
Oh, goody!
Hopefully others will also, which means there will be far fewer Macho-Jerks ROARING down West End Ave. with modified mufflers blaring an ear-splitting racket!
Re: “Oh goody” and the “ear-splitting racket” the noise must be coming from the voices inside your head.
This story is so disheartening and should be for all of us who live on the UWS. Personal property being vandalized is bad enough, but being stolen at any time of the day, especially in broad daylight is scary. As for the police response, I can’t say I’m surprised. I know crime prevention falls low on their job description and now recovering stolen property and escorting a victim safely does too.
Just for the record I was not one of those macho bikers with an ear splitting non-muffler.
I fully support any effort by the NYPD to enforce existing sound limits for all vehicles, especially motorcycles. They apparently have the apparatus and occasionally set up near bars downtown, but way too infrequently. Possibly because a lot of the guys with the ear splitting exhausts are NYPD themselves.
Have you ever seen these guys get off of their motorcycles? Right after taking off their barely legal helmets they remove their ear plugs.
BTW it isn’t just the Harley guys, there are plenty of guys riding scooters with open exhausts to gain that extra 2 mph.
You should be supporting respnsible motorcyclists – a very efficient mode of transport with low environmental impact AND they save a lot of the precious UWS parking spaces.
Welcome to New York
Let’s put on our thinking caps here for just a minute. This City has the worst imaginable pot holes, there are noise limitations, traffic is often nearly gridlock and there are always small children, stroller, and families in the streets, parks and cross-walks. Why on earth would you want to be here with your bike? What annoys me about it as an UWS resident is that so many people with bikes take a full car-sized parking space. The City should be offering vertical-lined bike spaces where you can fit 2 or 3 bikes into a car-sized space. They are often extremely noisy and disruptive. And so many bikers think they are free to weave in and out of traffic as though they are wearing an invisibility cloak. They can’t possibly enjoy the “open road” and wind through their hair on these streets. Why bring them into the City at all?
Jez, no offense but I think your thinking cap is broken.
Anybody who has ever owned a motorbike in NYC knows it is hands down the best way to get around, weather permitting. Traffic is barely an issue, and parking is never a problem. I too hate loud bikes, but the idea that bikes are hogging parking spaces is laughable. BTW, after years of riding full size motorcycles I went with a Vespa and wish I had done so years ago. There is a reason every major city is full of motorbikes. Try it and you will understand.
+1
So it’s better to have the soccer mom in the big ass Cadillac Escalade with nothing in it but her bumping cars while she tries to parallel park?
Yeah, that’s the ticket.
No, I don’t think a big-ass Escalade or Navigator is better. But I can say that at least those cars (any cars) carry more than one human being at a time, making it a little less selfish than a big-ass bike. Most bikes make more noise than a car, take up the same physical space on the street. It’s not apples to apples with th
Jez,
How can you say that a motorcycle takes up the same physical space than a car on the street? It begs the question, do you know what a moyorcycle is?
Everything you said can be applied to cars too.
What kind of chain did you lock it with and what did you lock it to? I ask cause I hope what I use is appropriate..
When one of my bikes was stolen I had a heavy kryptonite chain on it as well as a disk lock. It was locked up to a mailbox. The thieves unbolted the mailbox from the concrete sidewalk, put it into their getaway vehicle and drove off.
We are paying for slavery. 150 years after it ended.
My bike was stolen as well….it was taken from 114 street and broadway at some point in the night. It was parked in front of a camera that is apparently owned by a Columbia University property. When I noticed my bike having been stolen I immediately called 911 and the NYPD officers that came, were quite nice and helpful as well as remorseful. One of them actually rides so he was extremely sympathetic. In my situation Columbia University was uncooperative. They have refused to release any video without a court order. I used to commute to work on my bike and it’s now hell, comparatively. They wouldn’t even give it to the insurance company. Well, the insurance covered it but I still miss it. I put so much work into it and had bonded with the bike. Still hoping that they will find it one day, but definitely not holding my breathe. I understand what every is saying here but I feel that the entire conversation has gone astray……the point here is that, it’s wrong that a person can just be violated at will in this day and age. Whether you want to ride a motorcycle or car, is you’re right and freedom….but having something stolen from you is not and neither should be treated like you’ve done something wrong after having experienced such a tragedy. Good luck to anyone else on getting their ride back….I always try to tell myself that everything happens for a good reason and that a greater tragedy was averted.