NYPD officials are promising to beef up enforcement aimed at illegal vehicles in the city while still searching for the dirt bike rider they say struck a boy in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park and took off.

"We are not going to tolerate these bikes being used on our streets," said NYPD Chief of Transportation Kim Royster.

What You Need To Know

  • NYPD Transportation chief Kim Royster says police will be seizing as many illegal bikes as they can find

  • Police are still searching for the dirt bike rider they say struck and critically wounded a little boy in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park and fled the scene

  • Neighbors tell NY1 the park where the boy was hit has been a magnet for thrill drivers, speeding cars, and illegal bikes and ATVs

"As you can see, when a four year-old child is playing in a parking lot and you have people that are racing in a parking lot with these illegal instruments, it's dangerous," Royster added.

Investigators say the suspect they describe as a male in his teens or late 20s was speeding near the boathouse Sunday when he slammed into the boy, who was critically wounded and left unconscious. According to police, the victim's condition has improved, though he remains hospitalized.

Neighbors tell NY1 the park has been a magnet for thrill drivers, speeding cars, and illegal bikes and ATVs.

Royster said police will be seizing as many illegal bikes as they can find, relying on methods to locate where they're being stored when they're not in motion. That's because giving chase can be dangerous to the public.    

"If they are on corners, they're on gas stations, our officers are going to be there," Royster said.

But police say they'll need the public's help, hoping for any information or video that can help track down the hit-and-run suspect still at large. There are no surveillance cameras in the area where the hit and run happened.

The NYPD will also need tips to help them find the bikes they say have become a menace.