Wheel Bad: Tire Thefts Surge on UES and UWS

A rash of tire thefts has hit both the Upper East and Upper West sides over the past several weeks, according to posts circulating on local social media networks and a source within the NYPD.

One report posted to the r/UpperWestSide forum on July 8 said a car had all four wheels stolen while parked near West 64th Street and Riverside Boulevard. On the other side of Manhattan, a July 9 post on Nextdoor showed another vehicle stripped of its wheels near East 88th Street and York Avenue.

That post quickly drew comments from neighbors reporting similar incidents nearby—including one person who said their wheels were recently stolen at West 88th Street and West End Avenue and another who cited a theft near East 71st and York Avenue.

“It’s been all over,” said online poster Jose Rivera. “It’s like we live in Gotham. Where’s batman?”

Other commenters on the post reported similar incidents on their own blocks, with one user saying they had seen at least six cars with stolen wheels in their Upper West Side neighborhood recently. Another joked that “waking up in the late 1970s” was not on their “bingo card” this week. The comment was a reference to the surge in auto-related crime during New York City’s fiscal crisis, when worsened economic conditions, budget cuts, and strained police resources led to increased theft and a deprioritization of vehicle crimes by the NYPD.

One poster said that in the 1980s, during a similar rash of lawlessness, the family car had its tires stolen. And when the tires were replaced, the thieves returned and stole a second set of tires.

A source with the NYPD told Straus News that there have been “hundreds” of tire thefts across New York City this year. The recent uptick on the Upper East and West sides may be due, the source said, to increased NYPD Auto Crimes Unit patrols in Upper Manhattan neighborhoods like Harlem and Washington Heights, which may be pushing thieves to operate farther south. The NYPD’s deputy commissioner of public information’s office did not respond to inquiries from Straus Media to confirm these numbers by press time.

In one recent case, officers reportedly stumbled onto a theft in progress near 34th Street, prompting the suspects to flee.

The source explained that thieves typically target standard vehicles, such as Honda CRVs, with common wheel sizes, because the tires and rims can be quickly resold to shops for roughly half the retail price.

“They can get all four wheels off a car in under two minutes,” the source said. The crews tend to travel in SUV-style vehicles like Infinitis or BMWs, not pickup trucks, which allows them to toss the stolen wheels directly into the back seat, drive off, and raise less suspicion. The police source said the transport cars are believed to be stolen vehicles with bogus license plates.

One of the most effective and affordable ways to deter tire theft is by installing locking lug nuts, safety experts say.

Unlike standard lug nuts, which can be removed with a basic wrench, locking lug nuts require a special key that comes with the set, making it much harder for thieves to remove wheels quickly.

Since most tire thefts are done in under two minutes, anything that slows down the process can be enough to discourage an attempted theft.

Locking lug nuts are widely available at auto-parts stores or online, and typically cost between $20 and $50. While they are not foolproof, they add an extra layer of difficulty and can make a car a less-attractive target.