NYU’s Department of Campus Safety said it has increased the number of officers around on-campus bike racks following an uptick in electric scooter and bike thefts this semester. The department is also planning to install upgraded security cameras on campus to help deter potential motor vehicle thefts in the future.
Campus Safety has received reports of nine attempted thefts at the bike racks outside of the Stern School of Business’ Tisch Hall since the start of the semester, and was only able to prevent one of them, according to Campus Safety head Fountain Walker.
Walker said almost one-third of attempted thefts in the last two years occurred at the start of the fall semester, and 27 out of 31 successful thefts occurred outside Tisch Hall. He also said that around half of the recent thefts took place after students were followed by suspects.
“We continue to encourage the NYU community to remain vigilant and follow our Safety Tips online to keep themselves and their belongings safe,” Walker wrote to WSN. “Specifically, we request that for our community members’ safety, they do not let people piggyback into the Tisch bike racks or any other NYU-secured area.”
Graduate student Peihang Li said she is now more careful when locking her bike and uses a heavy-duty lock following the recent e-scooter and bike theft alerts.
“I was shocked because this is a safe place for me,” Li said. “I was an undergraduate here and I never experienced anything like this. It might be something about the locks — my lock is more than a hundred dollars — which is really expensive, but it’s worth it.”
Despite the increased security, junior Cameron Stevens said she is still weary about leaving her e-scooter in the racks and brings it to classes with her instead.
“I have a lot of classes that are in auditoriums, so it’s annoying to put this clunky scooter right next to me,” Stevens said. “I’ve actually walked by the rack and I thought, ‘Oh, maybe I could put it there.’ But as soon as I started seeing all the thefts, it went out of my mind. I stopped considering it.”
Contact Connor Patton at [email protected].
