58 Fireworks Cars Seized (No trial, no appeal – Celebrate freedom this Independence Day)

NY Post ^ | June 27, 2006 | Jamie Schram

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Followup to N.Y. Cops In Pa. Fireworks Stakeouts (NYPD seizes cars of NYers who legally buy fireworks in PA)

New Yorkers are learning the hard way that an initiative to keep July 4th firecrackers out of the city means just what the warning signs on the highway say: "Transport fireworks, lose your vehicle."

The NYPD has now corralled 58 vehicles under Mayor Bloomberg's fireworks crackdown, officials said...

< snip >

To get the message out, the city has eight 9-by-12-foot electronic signs that are rolled around the five boroughs and placed primarily at highways, bridges and tunnels.

"We're doing this to deter people from transporting illegal fireworks," said a law-enforcement source.

Police said 161 calls had been made to 311 during the initiative, although it is not clear how many calls led directly to vehicle seizures.

The mayor's office said more than 770 cases of illegal fireworks have been confiscated by the NYPD Vice Enforcement Division in conjunction with the city's Joint Fireworks Taskforce and more than 60 people have been arrested for possessing or trafficking illegal fireworks.

[Hildy]

When I was seven years old I saw a woman running, carrying a towel with three fingers on it. She was running to the hospital because her son had lit a cherry bomb in the basement before he realized there was no place to throw it! It's just one of those memories that has stuck with me throughout my life. I guess that's my aversion to people setting off fireworks. Now professional fireworks. that's another story. We just moved to Bullhead City, AZ across the river from Laughlin, NV. On July 4th they have the best firewors display in the west. They happen to launch it practically next door to where I live on the Colorado River. I can literally sit on my balcony and it's like a private fireworks display. I've never been so close to something so wonderful before. I can't wait until Tuesdsay to experience it again!

[tcostell]

One of these and some careful aim of the bottle usually does the trick.

[Aquinasfan]

What is the attraction of lighting things off that go boom? I, as a woman, don't get it. Can a FREEPER guy please say it in a way that I can understand?

They go boom?

Hey, my girls love to run around the yard with sparklers. But then again, maybe sparklers are the female version of fireworks.

[Ainast]

I can believe some kids are dumb enough to light a cherry bomb in doors, but to not get rid of it??? The kid deserved what he got.

[AppyPappy]

It just makes me want to buy a maniquien and blow it up.

I am all over that. I wish Virginia would do cool stuff like blowing up dolls with fireworks.

[wjcsux]

Can a FREEPER guy please say it in a way that I can understand? Thank you.

I will give it a shot. I used to do the fireworks routine as a kid. I grew up in Tucson AZ where fireworks were illegal. We used to get cherry bombs and M-80's in Nogales, Mexico and bring them home. We had a lot of fun blowing up stuff in the city dump. This was about 40 years ago, BTW.
Now, I work for the DoD as an Engineer. I blow stuff up, and get paid for it. My exploits as a kid prepared me for my current career!

[tumblindice]

You must have had money or a job! Impressive. I couldn't afford those things until recently.
But we had roman candle fights when we had the scratch.

[ozzymandus]

I think I'll go shoot off some bottle rockets and celebrate the fact that I don't live in NYC.

[nina0113]

This is one issue that's a female/male thing.

I love fireworks. Not so much the noise, but the volcano of colored sparks shooting high into the air, exploding into other tiny, differently colored sparks that skitter away. Every year I make a note of the ones I liked best, but somehow can't find them the next year. You can buy acceptable fireworks in Virginia, but the really good ones (bordering on professional) are illegal here. Our deputies don't have time to waste hunting people down for having them, though, so many people bring them back from out of state & set them off anyway.

[BJClinton]

"It blowed up real good."

[Syntyr]

"I can believe some kids are dumb enough to light a cherry bomb in doors, but to not get rid of it??? The kid deserved what he got."

Yeah No where to throw it... How about anywhere except your hand...

To make matters worse he probably held on to it with a death grip. We used to light Black Cats and hold them in our palms. Just a little sting and some black on your hands but the explosive force blows up and away.

[tumblindice]

"a towel with three fingers in it"
That's why God gave us ten. (I did almost put my eye out once, but I have a spare.)

Heaven has a sign over the gates that says,
"Out of State Fireworks, Liquor and Firearms, Inside, All Free"

[nina0113]

Then they came for the cars...

They came for the V-8's FIRST.

[SALChamps03]

It is just so cool!....lol

[Holicheese]

They are really trying to scare people. It has ominous music and a deep voice in the background.
I just sit and laugh as the hands get blown off and the the arms. Its great family entertainment.

[Syntyr]

It wasn't often but it was fun. Indeed we had to save up for a while. I did have a paper route and I mowed lawns and sold Peaches from our peach trees in the back yard.

[Sic Luceat Lux]

"We're doing this to deter people from transporting illegal fireworks,"

What about that fire cracker that is up hillary's large smokin' azz!!

[SALChamps03]

This is similar to reports a few years back when government agents were seizing large amounts of cash from air travelers on the premise that it was "probably" drug money. No convictions, no arrests, no warrants, no charges, but they steal your money.

[from occupied ga]

This is what New Yorkers WANT. Yet another reason to hold New Yorkers in contempt.

[ncountylee]

We had 3 finger Eddie in my neighborhood. He was making a match head pipe bomb when it exploded. He flushed his fingers so that "his folks wouldn't know" but left the pipe sticking out of his head. True story and 3 fingers was pretty much the same after the accident mentally as he started out very low on the food chain. A few teachers even called him 3 fingers.