Wheelie-Popping Bikers Worry Residents in Harlem

With summer in full swing, motorcyclists are hitting the streets more than ever and neighbors are worried about the way some people are operating off-road vehicles and motorcycles in highly trafficked and densely populated areas. 

Over the weekend, the NYPD confiscated two off-road motor bikes. And neighbors are still worried about bike riders doing wheelies in the middle of traffic in neighborhoods like Harlem. 

"They pass around both sides of cars weaving in and out of lanes -- someone's going to get hurt," said resident Michael Whitfield Jones. 

A cellphone video taken by Jones captured bikers recently doing wheelies on 135th Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard. 

"It's a safety issue, for them and for drivers and pedestrians crossing the street," said Whitfield. "They pass through lights like they don't exist." 

Similar video was sent to NBC 4 New York of one biker in Queens riding an ATV near Nassau. 

Michaelangelo Pinto runs the Ferarri Driving School in Queens, and among its lessons is motorycle safety.

"You're putting everyone at risk. There's kids, there's other cars. You can't see what's going on when you're up in the air like that," he said. 

"A dangerous action like that, you're going to get your bike impounded which no motorcycle driver wants to see," said Pinto. 

Harlem resident Kaydian Lindo said she's not worried about the wheelie-popping bikers. 

"I think they're safe and they know what they're doing, so it doesn't bother me at all," she said. 

But Jones thinks it's only a matter of time before someone is seriously hurt and he's hoping bikers learn their lesson the safe way. 

"I just think it's wrong to ignore the problem." he said. "It's just going to get worse. Someone is going to get hurt, someone is going to get killed." 

The NYPD said 42 people were killed on their motorcycles in New York City in 2013. They said if motorcycle operators are seen doing wheelies in high-traffic areas, they could be charged with reckless driving and given other fines for speeding or driving through a red light, depending on the situation. 

The tension between drivers and motorcyclists on city streets and highways was especially apparent in the high-profile case of a family in an SUV who crossed paths with a pack of motorcycle riders on a Manhattan highway two years ago. A biker was run over, and the SUV driver was dragged from his car and beaten. 

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