The video shows many of the bikers gathering around the Range Rover driven by Lien. Lien and many of the motorcyclists stopped their vehicles. Following the incident, authorities familiar with such organized rides stated that Cruz was not attempting to cause a collision, but was attempting to slow traffic in order to clear a section of roadway to perform stunts on their motorcycles. In the video, Cruz merges in front of Lien and slows dramatically, apparently causing the collision. Cruz reportedly sustained minor injuries. The incident began when a sport utility vehicle (SUV) driven by motorist Alexian Lien was involved in light bumper contact with motorcyclist Christopher Cruz.
The rally involved performing stunts and driving through Times Square, which has been illegal since it was pedestrianized in 2009. Over 1000 motorcycles, quads, and other vehicles participated in the 2012 rally a year prior, according to New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly. The bikers were participating in an annual unsanctioned rally called the "Hollywood Block Party". In September 2013, public awareness of motorcycle hooliganism in America was increased when a video was uploaded to live leak showing a violent altercation between a family riding in an SUV and a group of motorcyclists in New York City. The event attracted much media attention. The motorcyclists said they were engaging in a semi-organized mass ride. In Seattle in 2010, a Washington State Patrol highway police trooper rolled his patrol car while chasing speeding motorcyclists, who then returned to jeer and taunt him. Some types of motorcycles or specific models associated with hooligan behavior are informally referred to as "hooligan" motorcycles. Speeding is often referred to as a "hooligan" activity due to inherent risk to the public. Street stunt riders on unlicensed dirtbikes are reported to be a problem in Baltimore, Maryland.
Riders, including under-age youth, without a valid driver's license, have been described as "dangerous and illegal" and "hooligans." In Malaysia, over 100,000 outlaw motorcyclists called Mat Rempit are reported to cruise and race on the streets every night. In some jurisdictions, the act of cruising is unlawful. Nude rider complaints are recorded in Coventry, England, where 21 riders proceeded naked through the town Salt Lake City Murfreesboro, Tennessee (claimed to be the first nude motorcycle rally) Providence, Rhode Island and southern Sweden. While clothing-optional bicycling is allowed in many places, similar behavior by motorcyclists is often seen as reckless and has even led to accidents when the rider was stung by an insect. Tim Kreitz (moto-journalist & Motorcycle Safety Foundation instructor Riding nude Hooligans engage in many types of unlawful behavior. In Los Angeles and New York City, some affluent urban motorcycle owners are self-described hooligans, or display motorcycles described as "hooligan chic" and an "object of fetish consumerism." Behaviors Packer said this promotes the Harley-Davidson brand and promotes "a type of motorcycle affiliation that is palatable, family friendly, and marketable" as part of a narrative that outlaw bikers, "though once a dangerous element, are now a useful and even valuable part of society." The StarPhoenix of Saskatoon wrote that the new marketing push to "transform motorcycling into an acceptable, mainstream pastime" has led to young riders rebelling.
Packer wrote in 2008 that media attention, such as the popular A&E television documentary The Wild Ride of the Outlaw Bikers (1999) and the Guggenheim show The Art of the Motorcycle, erroneously only covered the baby boomer Harley-Davidson rider culture, failing to note a shift in demographics, bikes, and behavior. They now ride sport bikes, often customized in the streetfighter style, rather than cruisers, passing through both rural and urban areas, playing "elaborate games of tag and follow the leader, continually pushing each other to ride harder." Besides being younger and favoring high-performance motorcycles, these groups are "loosely affiliated and come together mostly to ride." Traditional outlaw motorcycle clubs are known for having detailed charters and membership lists, prescribing codes of behavior, dress, type and brand of motorcycle members may ride, and vigorously enforcing procedures for admitting new members, banishing members who break club rules, and protecting the club's territory and name from anyone falsely pretending to be a member. Historian Jeremy Packer wrote that the newest motorcycle "gangs" are unlike the outlaw motorcycle clubs widely reported in the media since the late 1940s.