News Flash: There's No NYPD Stolen Stroller Squad

The Buggyguard in action

Back in May, WCBS 2 looked at the phenomenon on stroller thefts. Well, maybe it's less a phenomenon and more a logical result of unsecured high-end baby strollers being parked on streets (one Bay Ridge family had two strollers stolen from them), tempting bait to anyone looking for a chic and inexpensive ride for a child. Now, there is definitive word from the NYPD that strollers thefts do not rate its own crime division.

NY Times reporter Elissa Gootman reveals her stroller went missing, "Yes, it was left outside, on a not-so-quiet street in Brooklyn. No, it was not locked up. Yes, I am fully aware of the fraught nature of complaining about the loss of a $400 stroller, one that epitomized privilege, and all that is loathsome about urban bourgeois parenting to begin with." She contacted the ever-helpful NYPD public information office to find out if stroller thefts were a trend: A cop "suggested that I put my 'very unusual request' in an e-mail, but warned, 'Your answer will probably be ‘we can’t accommodate you.'... We don’t have a Stolen Stroller Squad." Even i Later on, another police spokesperson said stolen strollers are "not a problem here in the city, period... I believe it was a problem out West." Or in Toronto, where cops issued an alert telling, duh, parents to bring their strollers inside!

Fun facts: Strollers over $1,000 would be treated as grand larceny, while those under $1,000 would be petty larceny. One mom who had two strollers stolen from her Florida back yard and front porch invented a stroller lock—the Buggyguard which features animal-shaped locks—plus the animals come with different colored bow ties!

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on July 3, 2011 4:14 PM

Comments [rss]

tenaglmad

unkle bob - do you have twins? i'd like to see a $90 stroller that you can push 60 lbs of baby for hours each day up hills without falling over from exhaustion. i still stick with my point that when you choose not to own a car, to not buy gas, to use mass transit and walk everywhere $400 one time purchase is a green deal!

tenaglmad

dear reporter - a 400 dollar stroller doesn't epitomize privilege. how about this math - i live in the city. i have twins. we don't drive nearly anywhere. we walk and take mass transit. i push 60 pounds of baby everywhere i go. my stroller cost a little under 500 bucks. i don't pay for gas or have a car payment. compare that to the waste that goes along with suburban living and how is that privilege? and why shouldn't i have a stroller that my kids are comfortable in and that is easy to push if that's our only means of transportation? i would hardly describe this as bourgeois parenting. seems pretty green and thrifty when compared to the alternative transportation. and yes, get yourself a lock or don't leave your 400 dollar stroller unattended and out of sight.

Unkle_Bob

A $400 stroller epitomizes privilege when you can get a $90 stroller (for twins!) that works just as well. The babies doesn't care. Really, they don't.

schmeep

The stroller might not epitomize privilege, but getting so bent out of shape and defensive kinda does. 1st world problems.

tenaglmad

hmmm. not sure if shmeep means me or the reporter. i'm not bent out of shape or defensive just making a point. i wouldn't even define the situation as a "problem" as you do. it's just a situation. as i tell my daughters to help them learn to cope with things - save your tears for the big things - this is no bigee!

Bernie_Geotz_Squirrel_Luv

I predict "Operation Lucky Stroller" by the NYPD.

Joey__Blow

err... its not stealing if they are left on the sidewalk (wink wink). The person abandoned their property and so it is up for grabs. (no misreading there...

but if you want to sell a stroller to get money for beer which makes more sense.. a broken crapped upon stroller with a lame wheel.. or a brand new $400 model..

geez..

Lisanne!

Why steal strollers? People throw them out as garbage all the time. Maybe these thefts were merely misreads, someone thought they were being thrown out.