The NYPD wants to replace its fleet of three-wheeled scooters with Smart cars, officials said Wednesday.
The single-passenger Mercedes-Benz vehicles, about the size of a clown car, will be painted like NYPD cruisers and could roll out en masse later this month, officials said.
“They’re midget cars, I guess you can call them,” Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said. “We have acquired a number of them to test them out. Actually, in many instances they are more maneuverable than the scooters. They’re also cheaper, interesting enough.”
Nine Smart cars — at a cost of $119,000 — have been purchased for the pilot program, but only one so far has been put on patrol, in Central Park.
Within weeks, the cars will be placed in the NYPD’s parking and school safety divisions and meted out to precincts throughout the five boroughs.
Department officials said the Smart cars will be safer and have air bags and air conditioning, both of which the scooters now lack.
If the program is successful, the NYPD will purchase 100 more and begin swapping out the aging scooters, which can cost up to $27,000 apiece, according to Deputy Commissioner Robert Martinez of the NYPD’s Support Services Bureau.
“(Smart cars are) a little less than half the price of a three-wheel scooter and it’s a real vehicle with air bags and air conditioning and heat,” said Martinez. “The Smart Cars are crash tested while the three-wheel scooters are technically motorcycles.
“Smart cars are cheaper and much safer,” he added. “It’s a no-brainer.”
Park advocate Geoffrey Croft said the new Smart Cars would be a boon for cops who currently use scooters in city green spaces — particularly in the hotter months.
“It was painful just watching these guys have to work in these conditions for up to five months a year,” he said about the scooters, adding that he didn’t foresee the Smart cars damaging area parks.
“I would be extremely surprised if we start to see a million Smart cars driving all over the lawns,” he said.
