For several weeks, New York has experienced a wave of wild fireworks set off by the hundreds every night in several neighborhoods, a phenomenon that the city wants to stem by attacking dealers.
For several hours, every evening, the explosions follow one another, a few seconds apart: firecrackers, Bengal fires, but also large-caliber rockets, similar to those used by professionals.
The sale and use of any pyrotechnic object is however prohibited in New York and in the counties bordering the city.
In the first half of June, some 1,737 calls were recorded to the 311 service, which receives all quality of life complaints, compared to just 21 for the same period last year.
The phenomenon has accelerated further in recent days. Some 12,578 calls were made to 911, the number for emergency services, for “illegal fireworks” between June 1 and June 21, according to New York police, compared to 737 between January 1 and the end of May. .
Tuesday, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the creation of a dedicated team, which will tackle, according to him, the “roots” of the problem, namely the distributors and resellers who illegally supply the New York market.
Some 42 people, from the New York Police Intelligence Unit, Fire Department and Sheriff’s Office, will make up the team.
Regarding the users who set fire to these devices, often young people, according to him, Bill de Blasio wants to bet on pedagogy more than on repression, he explained Tuesday.
New York firefighters will conduct an awareness campaign to remind people of the risks of unleashing wild fireworks.
On social media, many New Yorkers have accused the police of not intervening enough to apprehend those who light rockets in the street.
“Often it is young people who set them on fire and leave immediately,” explained Bill de Blasio, “so it is very difficult to act in real time in an efficient manner”.
Moreover, he made no secret of his preference that his police “deal with the most important issues for public safety”, in particular the upsurge in shootings in recent weeks.
If the extent of the nuisance far exceeds what has been seen elsewhere in the United States, other cities are also experiencing a wave of amateur fireworks, including Boston and Chicago.
– .
