Tire thefts surge in Riverdale and Kingsbridge, residents struggle for solutions

Every day when you drive, it seems like there’s another car on Independence Avenue … on crates.”

Edgar Abrams, resident

Tire thefts abound in the Riverdale and Kingsbridge neighborhoods, with residents waking up nearly weekly with cars on crates and tires gone. 

Earlier this year, the New York Police Department advised News 12 car owners could attempt to prevent future thefts by activating vehicle alarms, installing locking lug nuts, closing and locking vehicle windows turning turning the front wheels after parking. 

According to state law, stealing tires off a vehicle is categorized as auto stripping, a Class-A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in county jail and three years of probation. 

One resident, Edgar Abrams, woke up at 5 a.m. one April morning to the blaring noise of saw on metal. He believed the noise was ongoing construction across the street from his residence. Unfortunately, Abrams was wrong, the sound was four men stealing parts from a Toyota on the block outside. 

Abrams said he did everything he could, trying to make noise to scare the robbers off and calling the police but they were unbothered, stealing the parts they wanted and fleeing before police could arrive. 

Abrams said, when he takes his young children to school in the morning, he sees cars nearly every day with their tires or rims stolen. 

“Every day when you drive it seems like there’s another car on Independence Avenue …on crates,” he said. 

Photos of the thefts are shared on social media at a weekly rate, with a common thread of cars propped up crates along Independence Avenue. 

Abrams said when the police arrived that early April morning, he explained he thought the thieves stole a catalytic converter from the car and he took a video as evidence, but officers seemed uninterested, noting they didn’t leave a note on the vehicle for the car owner.

Abrams said police didn’t take the video he recorded, only took photos of it on their devices. 

“It’s very disappointing because you see all this stuff being done all over Riverdale right now,” Abrams said.  

Abrams never got a call back from the police and never heard about a follow-up on the matter. 

The 50th Precinct did not respond to requests for comment at press time. 

Car theft has skyrocketed in recent years, rising nearly 191 percent since the pandemic, according to city police data. In additional data from the National Insurance Crime Bureau, the top three cars most frequently stolen are all models of Honda. The rest of the top 10 include models from Toyota, Jeep, Ford and Chevrolet. 

Honda representatives have said their cars and tires are no more likely to be stolen than any other vehicle, but because Hondas are popular with car buyers generally, the ratio at which they are targeted by thieves is disproportionately high. 

Reports of rampant stolen tires in Riverdale date back as far as 2015, when high numbers of tire and rim thefts led then City Councilman Fernando Cabrera to propose legislation to require all tires to have individual serial numbers so, when tires show up for sale online or at used tire dealers, they could be traced back to the original vehicle owner.

The legislation did not pass. 

Tire theft is often deemed an easy robbery tactic as it’s low-risk and high reward. Used tires can be sold for nearly half the price of a brand-new tire. 

Tire theft numbers continue to rise with little word from city and borough officials on how residents should handle waking up to a temporarily usless vehicle.