It’s called “the city that never sleeps,” and usually New Yorkers like the idea.
But lately the nickname has turned all too literal in some parts of the city — black neighborhoods in Brooklyn, especially — thanks to mysterious, late-night eruptions of illegal fireworks.
A lot of people really aren’t getting much sleep, and not just in Brooklyn.
“It’s happening across New York City. It’s happening in California. It’s happening in Illinois. It’s happening in North Carolina, in D.C.,” Brooklyn author Robert Jones Jr. told the Washington Post, adding that it could be “a strange coincidence, but I need an explanation.”
Videos and images of fireworks have been shared widely on social media, reports the New York Times, “with people even firing them at each other in some cases.” The Times says such fireworks have also been reported in other cities nationwide, from Baltimore to Oakland CA.
“Yes, there are a LOT of amateur fireworks this year,” says the Post. “Several cities where fireworks are restricted or illegal have reported an anecdotal increase in fireworks complaints.”
In New York so far this month, there have been 80 times as many complaints as the city received in early June 2019.
“For some, setting off fireworks has been a form of catharsis in the pandemic, and a means of defying and protesting against what they see as a flawed criminal justice system,” the Times says.
“But for others, the fireworks have been a nuisance, spreading fear and anxiety among a population already stressed out by the coronavirus and quarantine.”
On Monday night, a long line of cars drove by Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s official residence, honking horns with the specific purpose of giving Mayor Bill de Blasio a taste of sleep-depriving noise and demanding something be done about the fireworks.
It appears to have worked: de Blasio announced on Tuesday he would form a task force to crack down on those using and distributing fireworks in the city, where only sparklers are legal.
“We’re going to start from the biggest operations, not focused on the kid on the corner,” de Blasio said. “We’re focused on the people that are really profiting and really distributing a lot of fireworks.”
In normal times, of course, a highlight of summer in New York is the huge Macy’s 4th of July display, which has been cancelled this year.
Macy’s announced Tuesday that it will put on 5-minute displays in all five boroughs beginning next Monday — and then show videos of them all on July 4th. Locations of the five street displays will be kept secret to prevent crowds from forming and potentially spreading the coronavirus.
Meanwhile, some dark conspiracy theories have cropped up regarding the illegal fireworks.
On Twitter, Jones — the Brooklyn author, who is black — suggested that “police and government were supplying the fireworks to black communities, to desensitize them to explosion noises so that ‘when they start using their real artillery on us we won’t know the difference,’” the Post says.
Others scoff at such a suggestion, but nearly everyone affected by the noise and potentially dangerous rockets and bombs consider it a serious problem.
Some, including fireworks makers, suggest it’s all a matter of people letting off steam at a time when they’ve been cooped up with little to do.
“There’s no concerts to go to. There’s no baseball games to go to. People aren’t eating out, going to bars,” John Sorgi, owner of American Fireworks in Hudson OH told the Post. “It’s one of those things that you can do at home, and have fun.”
Fun for some, perhaps. But for the weary just hoping for a few hours of rest, it’s more of a nightmare.
