Hundreds of protesters honked their horns Monday night outside of Gracie Mansion after New York City residents became fed up with late night firework displays.
Citizens revolt in #NYC
against fireworks disrupting their sleep every night and no action by @NYCMayor .
Honking car parade outside Mayor’s residence at Gracie Mansion. pic.twitter.com/kPupejH1j1— ben eisenberger (@uhel) June 23, 2020
“We need to send a message that we need to end these chaotic fireworks that’s been happening across the city,” said City Councilman Chaim Deutsch in a Twitter video, “If we cant sleep, Mr. Mayor, you won’t sleep.” (RELATED: Ole Miss Will Retire Eli Manning’s Number 10)
In a press conference Tuesday morning, Bill de Blasio said that a special task force has been created to deal with the fireworks throughout the city, per NY Daily News. “There’s a lot to do, and we have to do it quickly,” de Blasio said.
The task force is supposedly composed of FDNY fire marshals and NYPD intelligence who will track down where the fireworks are coming from, according to NY Daily News. De Blasio also said that the task force will conduct “undercover buys” and “sting operations” to catch firework vendors.
Can anyone explain why we’re getting Macy’s 4th of July level fireworks every night in NYC for the past 3 weeks now? Asking for a friend. It’s been nonstop from 8pm-3am in all 5 boroughs. #nycfireworks #fireworks #fireworksnyc pic.twitter.com/uPj5BOckgw
— PolitiKiss1600 (@PolitiKiss1600) June 22, 2020
New York City 911 call centers received 13,315 calls for illegal fireworks this year, with 12,578 of those calls happening in the month of June, reported the NY Daily News. The city’s 311 call centers have also received 11,535 calls for illegal fireworks this year, 4,559 of those calls coming from Brooklyn.
From January 1, 2019 to June 21, 2019 only 1,007 calls were made to 911 about illegal fireworks and 311 only received 54 calls, per the NY Daily News.