What’s Behind the Great American Fireworks Boom?
As U.S. cities report a surge in illegal fireworks complaints, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio orders a police task force to crack down on late-night explosives.
Firecrackers are displayed for sale at a fireworks store in Goodlettsville, Tennessee. The pyrotechnics industry is reporting banner sales in advance of the 4th of July holiday. And noise complaints over illegal displays are way up in many cities.
Photographer: Luke Sharrett/BloombergOn Monday night, a phalanx of irritated New York City drivers turned up outside Gracie Mansion for a cacophonous midnight traffic jam. A long line of motorists leaned on their car horns, determined to make sure that Mayor Bill de Blasio, and anyone else on the Upper East Side, wouldn’t be getting any sleep. The protesters assembled in response to the mayor’s perceived inaction over the latest conflict roiling this city, and many others across the U.S.: illegal fireworks, the new pandemic national pastime. In the first 21 days of June, fireworks complaints in NYC jumped by an almost comically nonsensical 40,000% over the same period last year.
A sleepless night might help to explain why de Blasio announced on Tuesday morning that he’s launching a police task force on illegal fireworks. With 40 officers and investigators from the New York Police Department’s Intelligence Bureau, Fire Department of New York, and Sheriff’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the new fireworks task force will target buyers, sellers and distributors of illegal fireworks through stings and other operations. The city’s firecracker crackdown comes just in time for the high holy day of pyrotechnics, July 4, even as the mayor faces withering criticism for the deference he has shown to New York police.