Driver speeds around Manhattan in 24 minutes Posted: Tuesday, September 3, 2013 4:26 PM EDT Updated: Tuesday, September 10, 2013 4:26 PM EDT 
 
 An anonymous driver claims to have made a lap of Manhattan in a record time of 24 minutes and seven seconds, a stunt that the NYPD does not find to be amusing. 
 
 
 
 The man posted a video of the entire 26.5 mile loop taken from the dashboard of a BMW Z3. 
 
 The driver, who goes by the code name AfroDuckProduction, says he made the run on August 26th. He says he broke the record even though he had to stop at six red lights. 
 
 There has been a history of drivers recklessly trying to break the unofficial record since a driver posted a 27 minute trip around the island in 2001. 
 
 The latest trip started at FDR Drive at 116th Street in Harlem. He raced down to Lower Manhattan and then back up the West Side Highway to the George Washington Bridge before cutting back east. 
 
 The video has gotten mixed comments, with supporters praising him for his feat and others criticizing him for racing at break-neck speeds while other cars are on the road. 
 
 One person posted on his YouTube page: "For anyone thinking this is a great idea, understand that this moron is one sneeze away from killing a family." 
 
 
 
 The driver told the auto-blog Jalopnik.com: "Whether you're a good driver or not, when you're on the road, you have a high chance of getting hit by a drunk driver, being cut off, especially in New York. Being a good driver, you're more aware of what is around you." 
 
 The NYPD says technology might help catch the law breaker. 
 
 
 
 "We've seen this before. We've taken enforcement action," Police Commissioner Ray Kelly says. " We now have license plate readers that will help in this investigation." ||||| Your browser does not support HTML5 video tag.Click here to view original GIF 
 
 The first illegal, dangerous, record lap of Manhattan we know of was Alex Roy's 27 minute run in 2001. In 2010, a group called CBC broke that with 26:03. Now a new driver claims 24:07. But what exactly is a lap of Manhattan, and how do you set the record? UPDATE: We have spoken with the driver. 
 
 The new fastest laps claims to be set by the elegantly-named AfroDuck Productions. The run supposedly took place just a few days ago on August 26th, 2013. The car is a stock 2006 BMW Z4. 
 
 So what's the route? The driver starts on FDR/East Side Drive at 116th Street, just outside of Harlem. They tear down under the Williamsburg, Manhattan, and Brooklyn Bridges, then shoot through the Battery Park Tunnel around the downtown tip of the island. After that there are the red lights of West Street/West Side Drive, which finally opens up in Midtown by all of Trump's buildings. 
 
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 The course then cuts off the northern tip of Manhattan, turning right by the George Washington Bridge in Washington Heights. From there, the driver gets across Manhattan at one of its narrowest points, turns back onto FDR/East Side Drive and runs to the start/finish line. 
 
 It's about 26.5 miles in total. That makes the average speed only something around 66 miles an hour. As you can tell by watching the video, the real time saving comes from managing traffic. 
 
 Well, by managing traffic, I mean passing on the right, weaving across lanes, and cutting people off like a cabbie. Despite the fact that the run is set when there's very few cars on the roads (by Manhattan standards), this is still very much reckless driving. 
 
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 I wouldn't want anyone I know to attempt this, and I wouldn't want to try a record run myself. It's one thing to drive and crash out your own car, it's another thing to try and drive the limit surrounded by completely innocent strangers in their own cars. 
 
 UPDATE: We asked a few questions from Afro Duck, and received the following responses.
– The NYPD is on the lookout after an anonymous driver posted a video that appears to show him (or her) driving all the way around Manhattan (a 26.5-mile loop) in 24 minutes, 7 seconds. That would be an unofficial record, MyFox New York reports; the previous mark was 26:03, set in 2010. The August 26 drive was made in a BMW Z3, and the driver had to stop at six red lights. "We've seen this before. We've taken enforcement action," NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly says. "We now have license plate readers that will help in this investigation." Jalopnik writer Raphael Orlove calls the Manhattan speed laps "illegal," "reckless," and "dangerous," and notes that though the driver was going an average speed of 66mph, the driver was also "passing on the right, weaving across lanes, and cutting people off like a cabbie." Orlove managed to contact the driver, who insists, "Being a fast driver doesn't mean that you're inherently a bad or reckless driver. ... I'm in control."