As soon as sixth grade is out, Alex Santa Croce drops his black Air Jordan backpack in the house, grabs a banana (good for hand cramps) from the kitchen, and mounts his custom-built SE Savage Flyer bike. He can appear almost solemn as he coasts down the driveway, front wheel aloft, gently shifting his body to keep the handlebars straight. Riding is absolutely mind-clearing for him. He says sometimes he’ll try a trick 1,000 times before it’s perfect.
To some residents and the Haverford police, Santa Croce, 11, is the neighbourhood’s primary menace. It is not only that he and his siblings zoom around Marilyn Park on bicycles and electric bikes, practicing daredevil tricks in public places and annoying the grown-ups who live nearby.
It is also that under the professional moniker Onaway Lipman, Santa Croce has successfully monetized being a kid doing crazy feats on your bike and annoying your neighbours. He has 1.4 million followers on YouTube and earned roughly $100,000 last year through sponsorships and advertising, according to his parents. Often he rides around in a Louis Vuitton half-shell helmet emblazoned with his name; packages of free gear from sneaker and apparel companies pile up at home.
Lisman’s internet-fuelled fame has added a modern twist to the classic suburban struggle over common space and how kids ought to behave. In private Facebook groups, some neighbours have referred to the family as “classless” and wondered whether the children riding bikes in the street are “feral.” The family has repeatedly ended up in court; Alexander Santa Croce, Lipman’s father, pleaded guilty in 2021 to “allowing a child to illegally operate a bicycle.”
Haverford Township Police Chief John Viola declined to comment for this article, saying, “We would prefer not to give this family any more press coverage.”
The situation has recently been escalating. In response to the latest round of police involvement, Santa Croce planted a sign in his front yard that said “My Neighbour is a Karen,” which Philadelphia Magazine first reported.
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