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How N.Y.C. Plans to Crack Down on Illegal Fireworks - The New York Times

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It’s Wednesday.

Weather: A high in the upper 80s with a chance of thunderstorms, turning into mostly clear skies tonight.

Alternate-side parking: Suspended through Sunday.

Credit...Amr Alfiky/The New York Times

Many New Yorkers have been struggling to sleep for weeks. Now, the mayor is promising a solution.

The city’s residents, already on edge from the coronavirus pandemic, are hearing illegal fireworks booming late into the night. Thousands of complaints have flooded the city’s help and emergency lines, but to no avail.

“These are not your normal kids playing with fireworks,” Michael Ford, a piano teacher in Inwood, told my colleagues. “These are real explosives, like Macy’s-style fireworks.”

On Monday, fed-up residents honked car horns outside Gracie Mansion in an effort to push Mayor Bill de Blasio to take action. The next morning, he announced that a fireworks task force would be created to disrupt the use and supply of illegal fireworks.

The task force will include 10 police officers, 12 fire marshals and 20 investigators from the city sheriff’s office. Sting operations, he said, will “go and get these illegal fireworks at the base.”

“We’re going to go at it hard now,” the mayor added.

[New York City announced a crackdown on illegal fireworks.]

Some people on Twitter, however, voiced concerns about having the Police Department address the fireworks at a time when many New Yorkers are calling for less policing.

Mr. de Blasio insisted that the task force would target the “big fish” supplying the fireworks, not the “kid on the corner.” Investigators will focus on the sale of fireworks inside the city and in surrounding states.

“In a lot of cases, you can’t intervene if someone shoots off a firework and they’re gone,” he said. “It’s not a good use of police time and energy.”

It’s still a mystery as to why the amateur fireworks are happening. Other cities, including Oakland, Calif., and Baltimore, have also reported an increase in fireworks, and many people are documenting the explosions on social media.

In one case, it appeared that even firefighters in Brooklyn were lighting fireworks.

Although fireworks are illegal to buy, sell or ignite in New York City, they’re generally sold from duffel bags or car trunks in working-class neighborhoods and set off days before July 4.

City Councilman Chaim Deutsch, who represents parts of Brooklyn and participated in the protest outside Gracie Mansion, has circulated a petition urging Mr. de Blasio to do more.

“We need to send a message that we need to end these chaotic fireworks,” Mr. Deutsch said in a video posted to Twitter on Tuesday. “If we can’t sleep, you can’t sleep.”

Jesse McKinley writes:

Early results from Tuesday’s Democratic primary indicated likely wins for a pair of prominent Congress members — Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Representative Jerrold Nadler.

But there are tens of thousands of absentee ballots still to be counted, and several closely watched and hard-fought races were in limbo, including the fate of Representative Eliot L. Engel, the veteran congressman from the Bronx. Mr. Engel is fighting for his political life against Jamaal Bowman, an insurgent candidate backed by many of the Democrats’ most outspoken progressives.

Read more of our coverage:

New York State Primary Election Results 2020

Primary Voters in New York City Face Scattered Problems

Vote-by-Mail Ballot Requests Overwhelm New York City Elections Agency

Gun Violence Spikes in N.Y.C., Intensifying Debate Over Policing

N.Y. Planned Parenthood’s C.E.O. Is Ousted After Staff Complaints

He Spent 25 Years in Prison for Murder, but Was Innocent All Along

Her Virus Test Came Back Positive. 3 Hours Later, She Had a Baby.

Father Whose Infant Twins Died in Hot Car Avoids Prison

Want more news? Check out our full coverage.

The Mini Crossword: Here is today’s puzzle.

The man who tried but failed to escape Rikers Island twice in four days had hoped to leave “intolerable” conditions meant to combat the coronavirus, a fellow inmate said. [Gothamist]

New York’s takeout cocktail law is expiring soon, worrying restaurants and bars. [Eater New York]

City schools are donating over 1,000 cases of frozen food to anti-hunger organizations to curb food insecurity and waste. [Chalkbeat New York]

Sarah Maslin Nir writes:

As a trained disaster responder, Dr. Robin Brennen was well versed in proper safety procedures when she entered a coronavirus patient’s apartment on the Upper West Side in March. She pulled on protective plastic bootees, a face mask and an eye shield.

The Coronavirus Outbreak

  • Frequently Asked Questions and Advice

    Updated June 22, 2020

    • Is it harder to exercise while wearing a mask?

      A commentary published this month on the website of the British Journal of Sports Medicine points out that covering your face during exercise “comes with issues of potential breathing restriction and discomfort” and requires “balancing benefits versus possible adverse events.” Masks do alter exercise, says Cedric X. Bryant, the president and chief science officer of the American Council on Exercise, a nonprofit organization that funds exercise research and certifies fitness professionals. “In my personal experience,” he says, “heart rates are higher at the same relative intensity when you wear a mask.” Some people also could experience lightheadedness during familiar workouts while masked, says Len Kravitz, a professor of exercise science at the University of New Mexico.

    • I’ve heard about a treatment called dexamethasone. Does it work?

      The steroid, dexamethasone, is the first treatment shown to reduce mortality in severely ill patients, according to scientists in Britain. The drug appears to reduce inflammation caused by the immune system, protecting the tissues. In the study, dexamethasone reduced deaths of patients on ventilators by one-third, and deaths of patients on oxygen by one-fifth.

    • What is pandemic paid leave?

      The coronavirus emergency relief package gives many American workers paid leave if they need to take time off because of the virus. It gives qualified workers two weeks of paid sick leave if they are ill, quarantined or seeking diagnosis or preventive care for coronavirus, or if they are caring for sick family members. It gives 12 weeks of paid leave to people caring for children whose schools are closed or whose child care provider is unavailable because of the coronavirus. It is the first time the United States has had widespread federally mandated paid leave, and includes people who don’t typically get such benefits, like part-time and gig economy workers. But the measure excludes at least half of private-sector workers, including those at the country’s largest employers, and gives small employers significant leeway to deny leave.

    • Does asymptomatic transmission of Covid-19 happen?

      So far, the evidence seems to show it does. A widely cited paper published in April suggests that people are most infectious about two days before the onset of coronavirus symptoms and estimated that 44 percent of new infections were a result of transmission from people who were not yet showing symptoms. Recently, a top expert at the World Health Organization stated that transmission of the coronavirus by people who did not have symptoms was “very rare,” but she later walked back that statement.

    • What’s the risk of catching coronavirus from a surface?

      Touching contaminated objects and then infecting ourselves with the germs is not typically how the virus spreads. But it can happen. A number of studies of flu, rhinovirus, coronavirus and other microbes have shown that respiratory illnesses, including the new coronavirus, can spread by touching contaminated surfaces, particularly in places like day care centers, offices and hospitals. But a long chain of events has to happen for the disease to spread that way. The best way to protect yourself from coronavirus — whether it’s surface transmission or close human contact — is still social distancing, washing your hands, not touching your face and wearing masks.

    • How does blood type influence coronavirus?

      A study by European scientists is the first to document a strong statistical link between genetic variations and Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Having Type A blood was linked to a 50 percent increase in the likelihood that a patient would need to get oxygen or to go on a ventilator, according to the new study.

    • How many people have lost their jobs due to coronavirus in the U.S.?

      The unemployment rate fell to 13.3 percent in May, the Labor Department said on June 5, an unexpected improvement in the nation’s job market as hiring rebounded faster than economists expected. Economists had forecast the unemployment rate to increase to as much as 20 percent, after it hit 14.7 percent in April, which was the highest since the government began keeping official statistics after World War II. But the unemployment rate dipped instead, with employers adding 2.5 million jobs, after more than 20 million jobs were lost in April.

    • My state is reopening. Is it safe to go out?

      States are reopening bit by bit. This means that more public spaces are available for use and more and more businesses are being allowed to open again. The federal government is largely leaving the decision up to states, and some state leaders are leaving the decision up to local authorities. Even if you aren’t being told to stay at home, it’s still a good idea to limit trips outside and your interaction with other people.

    • What are the symptoms of coronavirus?

      Common symptoms include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms overlap with those of the flu, making detection difficult, but runny noses and stuffy sinuses are less common. The C.D.C. has also added chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache and a new loss of the sense of taste or smell as symptoms to look out for. Most people fall ill five to seven days after exposure, but symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days.

    • How can I protect myself while flying?

      If air travel is unavoidable, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself. Most important: Wash your hands often, and stop touching your face. If possible, choose a window seat. A study from Emory University found that during flu season, the safest place to sit on a plane is by a window, as people sitting in window seats had less contact with potentially sick people. Disinfect hard surfaces. When you get to your seat and your hands are clean, use disinfecting wipes to clean the hard surfaces at your seat like the head and arm rest, the seatbelt buckle, the remote, screen, seat back pocket and the tray table. If the seat is hard and nonporous or leather or pleather, you can wipe that down, too. (Using wipes on upholstered seats could lead to a wet seat and spreading of germs rather than killing them.)

    • What should I do if I feel sick?

      If you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others.

Then, with a gloved hand, she picked up the rest of her equipment: a five-pound bag of cat kibble and a litter box.

Dr. Brennen, a veterinarian at Animal Care Centers of NYC, is part of a team of specialists who help the pets of those who become seriously ill.

Across the city, animal specialists in full-body personal protective gear enter homes to feed, at no charge, famished pets whose owners are hospitalized with the virus, or to take custody of pets belonging to patients who do not return home.

Pet owners who have died of the virus have left behind dogs, guinea pigs and cats, at least one of which starved to death before anyone had checked the owner’s apartment, according to Animal Care Centers of NYC.

On the Upper West Side that day in March, residents of the co-op building had alerted Dr. Brennen’s organization that a woman who lived there was in intensive care battling the virus. Her two beloved cats had been left behind. Dr. Brennen fed the cats twice a week.

“I knew how much she wanted those cats and loved them,” she said. “And I wanted them to be there for her when she got home.”

Ultimately, the cats’ owner died; a neighbor later adopted them.

In late April, New York City’s emergency management and animal welfare offices introduced a hotline for people who were struggling to care for their pets because of the virus.

As of June 17, roughly 145 pets had been turned over via the hotline, though the hotline’s main goal is to connect people with free resources to help them keep their animals.

Animals surrendered by people who have contracted the virus must be quarantined for 14 days. After that, they can be adopted.

“It is so important, especially at this time, that this human-animal bond is taken care of,” said Christine Kim, the city animal welfare office’s senior community liaison. “This is the time when people need that the most.”

It’s Wednesday — check on your neighbors.

Dear Diary:

A young woman steps off the train. As she does, she drops a paperback book.

“Miss,” passengers yell. “Miss! Miss!”

The book tumbles to the floor of the car as the door closes behind her.

“Oh, well,” one guy says.

The book lands in front of a woman. She bends down, picks it up, opens it to the bookmarked page and starts reading intently.

— Drew Watson

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