Posted on 06/19/2006 8:10:58 AM PDT by dead
Undercover NYPD cops are cracking down on New York buyers of illegal fireworks by staking out Pennsylvania vendors - and, for the first time, seizing the cars of people who travel out of state to get their Fourth of July fireworks.
So far this year, cops have seized 30 vehicles belonging to New York ers as they return home from Penn sylvania after buying fireworks there, and have arrested 60 people, according to a report in New York magazine this week. The report says undercover cops have been watching Pennsylvania fireworks vendors and looking for New York license plates. The heightened enforcement comes after Mayor Bloomberg's law-enforcement officials noted an increase in illegal fireworks set off during last Fourth of July on Staten Island.
One Pennsylvania merchant, Bill Weimer, told the magazine that he asks New York police to quit taking pictures of his customer's license plates and leave his stores but that they go across the street and "give off that New York cop attitude."
In an odd twist, New Yorkers - who are barred from possessing fireworks in their home state - can legally buy them in Pennsylvania, which prohibits sales only to its own residents.
A law-enforcement source told The Post yesterday that the NYPD also has confiscated hundreds more cases of fireworks this year compared with last year. More than 1,000 cases have been seized to date, as against 150 last year...
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
maybe Bloomberg should sue God for lighning,too.
It causes a lot of fires.
"Doesn't the NYPD have anything better to do than bust people for fireworks? Like cracking down on Gang violence and conducting counter-terrorist watches?"
Cops do what is safe and profitable. Arresting John Q. Public, fireworks consumer, and taking his car is safe and profitable. Going after gangs and terrorists is not.
Take your pick, we might need truck loads.
Where, exactly, in Outer Bingolia? I lived in Endicott for 9 years.
Note to New Yorkers: Drive to PA in two cars. Have one go to the fireworks tent, buy the stuff, let the fireworks police take down the plate number, and then transfer the booty to the second car parked a mile or so down the road.
It will drive them nuts.
Glad to see NY is safe from fireworks....but the illegal guns and drugs keep pouring across the border...good job, Mike,dumbass.
bump for later
I was born and raised in Vestal. Lived there my whole life (save for being away for college and grad school) up until last summer when I moved here to CT after getting married.
It will drive them nuts.
Yes, it surely would. Cops *hate* to be outfoxed. Better be wary of them expanding the surveillance area after a few empty target cars are stopped. If an officer witnesses the "hand-off", the cops could scoop up both vehicles.
We weren't old enought to drive into NYC and we bought enought to sell to others. Boxes of fireworks on the subway and train would have even caught the attention of NYC cops way back then.
Define genuinely...
That would be like Iowa State Troopers being deployed to Indiana to find some firecrackers in someone's trunk. Not worth the $$$$$.
Look, it's called deterrent. If people start getting busted for breaking the law, may they'll stop doing it shamelessly and the problem will subside.
I will be out of town this July 4th, and everything here is extremely dry. I can't imagine what may happen when the idiots let loose in my neighborhood.
Ironically, that 'war' seems largely an invisible one, at least in my half of the state. I should say some key arrests were made lately in the heroin traffic through the western PA area, but it would seem that should be the higher priority over busting a couple of guys for buying fireworks.
Cigarettes followed by "untaxed goods purchased in other states".
Keep your rules for your town, we'll keep ours for ours, thanks!
I would imagine the risk of fire caused by wayward bottle rockets is somewhat similar to risk of fire caused by improperly-tossed cigarette butts. In the case of ciggies, we're talking about billions of instances each year in this country alone. Police resources should be used for situations that truly deserve attention. Firecrackers, bottle rockets, Roman Candles, sparklers, and the occasional M-80 wouldn't be sufficient reason to send police on out-of-state expeditions for most residents with their eye on the bottomline.
By example, I'd be furious if police employed by my state were hundreds of miles away dedicated to this nonsense.
~ Blue Jays ~
Once I went to a legal fireworks celebration in NY. It was the best display I've ever been to. When I left, I actually had a hole burned in my clothes.
Maybe it would be a good idea to make fireworks legal and just tax the heck out of them. Heck, it would give Bloomberg something else to tax besides cigarettes, beer and gas.
That would make him happy.
For my next post, I'll see if I can find the text to Jean Shepherd's Ludlow Kissell and the Dago Bomb That Struck Back.
We used to tie M-80's to rocks, throw in the pond. The concussion would stun the baitfish and they would float belly up. We netted them and when they came around used them for bass and pickeral bait.
Of course, this is just put out there for purposes of discussion. I wouldn't recommend breaking the law, you see.
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