[VIDEO IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]
The 4th of July is a special holiday weekend for all Americans, but perhaps more so for the NYPD bomb squad. That’s because each year they get to blow up all the fireworks the department has confiscated in a grand, fiery spectacle.
This year they gathered 5,000 pounds of confiscated fireworks and detonated it — on Youtube, no less.
It is illegal to buy or sell fireworks in New York without a permit, so those who are caught can get fined or arrested. From the Staten Island Advance:
Since 2005, NYPD undercover squads have been targeting fireworks shops in Pennsylvania. Cars with New York plates are followed until they cross into New York — often on Staten Island — where the occupants are arrested. Their cars and cargo are impounded.
“We want everyone to enjoy the Fourth in the city, but fireworks in the hands of an amateur are extremely dangerous and illegal,” said Mayor Bloomberg.
Click HERE to watch this video from a mobile device.
(Source: Huffington Post)
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11 Responses
For 5,000 lbs of fireworks, that wasn’t really anything special to look at. Maybe cause it’s a video, and it’s during the day. Had they done it during the night, it would’ve been a lot more spectacular.
What does the mayor have to say about the air pollution resulting from this spectacle?
Big deal. I do the same thing in my backyard in Flatbush.
If it’s not in New York City, they aren’t doing anything illegal (there’s no law against transporting fireworks across the rest of the state), as long as they don’t go through New Jersey.
Why doesn’t the State of NY sell the stuff to someone in another state and make a few dollars that they so desperately need??
“It is illegal to buy or sell fireworks in New York without a permit,” mash-ma ha possessing it is legal in new york.
than you write “undercover squads have been targeting fireworks shops in Pennsylvania. Cars with New York plates are followed until they cross into New York — often on Staten Island — where the occupants are arrested.” but they didn’t buy it in new york! they are only posessing it in new york.
they should have saved it for today and invited the public to come watch. We need some good fireworks in Brooklyn.
cool!
@LBJ:
Transporting it in New York City is illegal.
Isn’t smoking in public area prohibited in NYC?
If you really need them, here is some advice:
Step 1 – Go to fireworks store in PA a few days before July 4
Step 2 – leave the store, drive in the opposite direction of NY.
Step 3 – Stop by a UPS store, ship the purchased products to your home in NY.
Step 4 – drive home to NY. Do not exceed the speed limit in case you are still being followed.
Tip: Always include ‘them’ in your thoughts when you say Chayos Velistim Baderech in tefilas haderech.