Car Wheel Thieves Target Upper West Side: Tires & Rims, Gone!

If the rivalry between the Upper West and Upper East sides is nearly as old as postglacial Manhattan itself, one contest neither nabe wants to win is which suffers more car-related theft and vandalism—the recent trend of stolen car wheels especially.

Following Straus News’s recent story on the wheel-theft incidents in the UES’s 19th Precinct (which listed 18 such thefts), we asked NYPD for similar data on the West Side.

The 20th Precinct, under the command of Inspector Candida Pun-Sullvan, did have this information at hand, while, at press time, the 24th didn’t.

There’s not much to be read in this except the different ways that different precincts are run, and relatedly, how they use social media. Meanwhile, though all precincts post their weekly CompStat reports for everyone to see, getting the details behind the numbers can be difficult.

The 20th Precinct stretches from the Hudson River to Central Park West, and from the north side of West 59th Street to the south side of West 86th Street.

So, even if the information that follows gives only a glimpse of the UWS’s overall wheel-theft problem, it’s still a window into a crime pattern that the public hears about only anecdotally, if at all, via scattered social media posts, blog comments, and word of mouth.

That said, from the June through August 17, the most recent data available, the 20th Precinct released a list with nine wheel-theft incidents, though there are some for one reason or another that did not make the list, judging from posts that the Spirit found on social media.

The List

1. 6/14/25—in front of 315 W. 76th St.

2. 6/16/25—in front of 370 W. 84th St.

3. 6/19/25—in front of 250 W. 74th St.

4. 7/15/25—in front of 531 Amsterdam Ave.

5. 7/21/25—corner of Riverside Drive and West 81st Street

6. 7/21/25—opposite 200 Central Park West

7. 7/23/25—in front of 42 W. 72nd St.

8. 8/6/25—in front of 144 W. 73rd St.

9. 8/7/25—corner of West 60th Street and West End Avenue

This list of nine compares with 18 such reported incidents in the 19th Precinct for June and July.

Even if comparisons are invidious, it’s clear that both nabes have a problem. Further evidence suggests the problem doesn’t end at the respective boundaries of the 20th and 19th precincts but continues into the 24th and 25th precincts as well.

In time, Straus News hopes to publish a list of reported wheel-theft incidents from these areas also. Ideally, they would be accompanied by an accounting of known catalytic-convertor thefts—a citywide crime pattern of recent years—as well as car break-ins and other vandalism which, anecdotally, occurs with some frequency in the vicinity of Riverside Drive.

The Upper West Side wheel thefts have become a topic of conversation on social media.

Most recently, on Aug. 23, the 20th Precinct X account made a post showing how it had been placing black-and-white flyers on local cars. Included were three photos, and the text “Helping you protect what’s yours—our Crime Prevention Officer shared tire & rim theft prevention tips throughout the area specifically West End Avenue and Riverside Drive.”

On Aug. 15, the same X account posted the full-color NYPD Crime Prevention Division flyer itself with tips like “Park in well lit areas” and “Install high quality locking lug nuts.”

Well intentioned as these flyers are, they’re no match for professional thieves, who travel by car, in what appears to be groups of at least three—a two-man pit crew, jacks and pneumatic wrenches, and a getaway driver, most likely in a stolen car or one with fake plates.

The Reddit group r/UpperWestSide has seen some intermittent postings and commentary. While it’s important to note that Reddit users comprise a very self-selective subset of the local population, there are some invaluable posts and commentary there.

Among them, a late January 2025 thread titled, “Wheels stolen on 90th and Central Park”—which is the 24th Precinct—showing an unremarkable black sedan, minus its four wheels but perched on top of two curbside milk crates. Reddit user /ircbact used a question for a caption: “How is this becoming so common (again)?”

In the same thread, a commenter added they saw the identical thing on a Toyota Camry at 122nd Street and Broadway—again in the 24th Precinct.

Unremarked here but noted elsewhere is that the milk crates are shoved under the car body after the thieves jack it up, and that it’s believed that cars like a Camrys are frequent targets because their parts are easier to resell, a fact that also applies to certain Hondas, as the pictured car appears to be. Police sources tell us that the thieves seem to be avoiding the high-end luxury vehicles and targeting the lower-priced cars.

More recently, a July 8 thread by Reddit user /Accomplished-Pin766 included a couple of cops, presumably from the 20th Precinct, looking at a wheel-less blue Acura on the 400 block of West 64th Street, near Riverside Boulevard, just steps from Abena Pilates.

Why this incident isn’t included on the 20th Precinct June-August wheel theft list is unclear.

What’s blazingly evident from a Reddit post made on Jan. 16, 2025, is that this is the proverbial “hot corner” of car crime, as user r/nycfc203b posted a bright morning photo of wheel-less BMW X7— propped up on collapsing milk crates, just a few more steps from Abena Pilates.

”For more context,” noted user /Crypto_NY, “a total of 6 cars had wheels stolen last night, all in the same area. I spoke to the company that towed the car this afternoon.”