NYPD tries to ground hoverboard sales with city-wide ban

One of the hottest holiday gadgets was banned by the New York City Police Department this week just as it was flying off the shelves.

But retailers selling hoverboards — a type of self-balancing scooter — are hoping the NYPD will be too preoccupied with other things to do much about it.

“The ban just came out of the blue,” said Jay Isaac, owner of The Board Store at 14 W. 8th St., which opened a month ago and only sells hoverboards.

The small shop has already sold 3,000 of them at $500 a pop, according to Isaac.

“We are hoping that the ban won’t be heavily enforced or will be reversed like it was in California,” he said.

Next year, the Golden State is reversing a 1977 law aimed at noisy scooters to allow quieter, battery-operated hoverboards.

But in the Big Apple, consumers and retailers were surprised when the NYPD described hoverboards as “motor vehicles that cannot be registered with the Department of Motor Vehicles” and are thus illegal in the city.

At least one City Council member, Andy King, (D-Bronx) wants to propose a bill outlawing hoverboards.

“People won’t be walking or exercising their lungs” if hoverboards are “seen as a new form of transportation,” he said.

Macy’s flagship store in Herald Square has devoted at least 20 feet of retail space in the men’s department to hoverboards.

“Should a customer wish to return the hoverboard, we will certainly accommodate the return under our normal return policies,” a spokeswoman said.