Illegal migrant scooters are being stored in large numbers behind iron fences and hidden lots at shelters across New York City, despite the NYPD’s ongoing efforts to combat their presence on the streets.
According to insiders, NYPD officers surrounded the converted hotel in East Elmhurst where Bernardo Raul Castro Mata, a Venezuelan national, resided before he opened fire and injured two New York police officers on Monday morning. As per The Post, this occurred at a time when other modes of transportation such as scooters and mopeds were not accessible.
Numerous unauthorized scooters are kept in parking lots at various migrant shelters across the five boroughs. One example is the former Creedmore Psychiatric Center in Queens, where hundreds of asylum seekers currently reside and where a large fence is used to store these scooters.
On Monday, an off-duty city traffic agent expressed their inability to issue tickets for certain vehicles. They further added that checking such vehicles also poses a problem. The agent emphasized that once these vehicles are parked or stored on private property, the matter becomes even more complicated.
According to the traffic agent, “we are protected from them by the shelters.”
At the moment, there is no confirmation from the NYPD regarding the towing of the scooters from the Queens shelter.
In a front-page report, The Post has uncovered that the NYPD is taking action against the surge in the use of scooters and mopeds as getaway vehicles in serious felony crimes. This is happening concurrently with the influx of thousands of migrants into the city, making it an unprecedented trend that the police department is combatting.
According to recent statistics from the NYPD, scooters, mopeds, and motorcycles have been involved in 790 cases of the seven most serious crimes this year, which is a significant increase compared to just 156 cases over the same period in 2022.
During the previous week, law enforcement officers took to the streets and confiscated 39 of the problematic motorcycles, while also issuing summonses.
An aide to Democratic Senator Patty Murray raised concerns with the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) about migrants who were reportedly seeking shelter in Seattle. However, the migrants in question never arrived, leaving the aide wondering about the fate of these individuals.
Hundreds of migrants are now using scooters to work underground food-delivery jobs, contributing to the increasing menace on Big Apple streets. Additionally, some individuals are utilizing these scooters for more sinister purposes.
According to sources, the infamous Tren de Aragua gang from Venezuela has established “coordinators” in New York City to enlist criminal migrants, giving them directions and transportation for carrying out frequently brutal robberies.
According to reports, Bernardo Raul Castro Mata, a 19-year-old gang member from Venezuela who is currently facing attempted murder charges for the shooting of two police officers on June 3, allegedly made the shocking revelation during an interview from his hospital bed.
Join our Metro Daily Newsletter by clicking on this link.
Sources indicate that the NYPD made another attempt to address the issue of mopeds at the East Elmhurst shelter on Monday. This action comes despite ongoing obstacles in the citywide effort to combat this problem.
Security guards at a migrant shelter in Long Island City are guarding 23 parked scooters on the street, stating that the police have yet to show up and impound the vehicles.
The former psych hospital at Creedmoor is surrounded by an 8-foot-high fence, which effectively conceals the fleet of scooters that frequently come and go from the property.
According to a mother residing near the facility, “The noise levels are too high and quite disturbing. It scares the children and even startles me while walking on the street with my kids. The loud motor noise is sudden and quite unsettling.”
According to a teacher from PS 18 Winchester Elementary School, the vehicles are considered “unpredictable.”
“She said that the sound of the scooters is what scares the kids the most, and they are not happy about it.”