Fireworks blasting at all hours have been keeping Upper West Siders up this month — and there seems to be no resolution to the issue. In fact, many of the complaints have been classified by 311 as “unfounded” or “unnecessary.”
“As someone who gets woken up by them and needs to plan dog walks in the evening for my anxious dog around them, I can confirm there are more of them and they are far more sophisticated than last year,” wrote Charlotte Morrison, who took the photo above from 100th and Columbus.
Fireworks are being reported all around the city. Dozens of complaints about them have come in this month from throughout the neighborhood above 96th Street, according to 311 records.
Over the same period last year, there were only 2 fireworks complaints in all of June in the neighborhood.
“Pretty much every night on the UWS there are fireworks going off,” wrote another Upper West Sider. “Since Memorial Day. Waking up my kid. And either no one knows or no one cares, but it’s so tiresome at this point.”
Another said she’s been hearing an “aggressive amount” of fireworks near 103rd Street. “It’s been every night for nearly 3 weeks,” wrote Lauren Jensen. “My dog is losing his poor mind. I actually have to consider moving! Often around midnight and 3 am. I know I’m not the only one frustrated by it not being handled.”
One problem with getting people to stop shooting them off in the middle of the night is that an officer would have to see a firework being shot to take action.
“Our office made the recommendation to call 311 to a constituent yesterday,” wrote Sarah Crean, a spokesperson for Councilmember Helen Rosenthal. “The NYPD has to catch someone in the act of setting fireworks, which is not an easy thing to do. We have all been hearing the fireworks — but so far one person has contacted our office about the issue.”
The 24th precinct covers much of the area where the complaints are coming in. Deputy Inspector Naoki Yaguchi, commander of the precinct, told us the precinct is aware of the issue, though no arrests or citations have been made.
“As mentioned in your tip, most of these incidents are happening on the grounds of the Frederick Douglas Houses,” he wrote in an email to West Side Rag. “We have additional complaints/calls on W. 108 St./W. 109 St. Many of the calls that we receive are that people heard fireworks so to the extent they can help us with exact locations with where the fireworks are actually going off would be helpful in deploying our personnel to that location to catch them in the act. We are also working with our Housing counterparts to address this issue.”
It’s often difficult to figure out where fireworks are coming from — and many may be getting launched near the Douglass Houses but not on the property. A reporter spending time at the Douglass Houses on Thursday night did not see any fireworks being set off in the vicinity.
The question too is whether the police should be enforcing this kind of activity — at a time when many New Yorkers are pushing for a deescalated response to non-violent crime.
“In Brooklyn, a sharp divide has opened between residents aggravated by the noise and threatening to call authorities and others who cautioning that could lead to the type of dangerous police action they’ve just spent weeks protesting against,” NBC reported.
We’ve been hearing these very powerful blasts night after night for about a week, apparently coming from Douglass Houses. It’s really unfair to folks in the project, in the neighborhood, and I fear that someone will injure himself. What makes this so ironic is that the 24th pct adjoins Douglass Houses.
Get used to it. The criminals run nyc now
They just went off. I’m at 102nd and Broadway. They sound like they are being set off to the SE of me.
Last night was particularly bad, to the extent of being frightening.
Kids who play with Fireworks, usually do injure themselves. Sorry, to hear of the frustrations, not a pleasurable experience. It sounds horrible.
How I pine for the good old of Giuliani /Bloomberg where you rarely heard fireworks around July 4.
The irony is it was the policies under Giuliani and Bloomberg that caused this pressure to build that is being released right now. This explosion was destined to happen due to the over policing that you say you miss. Had the policies continued, the pressure would continue to build, and the explosion would be even worse.
This has got to stop! Last night they were going past midnight. I have no idea where the reporter was at, but obviously he is not very observant. They have been going off around 104th and manhattan acenue for the last week. When are the cops going to act!!
The fireworks between 100 and 105 are a huge disturbance problem – they are rampant now and go past 10pm with huge cherry bomb explosions and loud sequences that sound like guns. It’s only mid June, this a legitimate change from last year. And the idea the cops would be seen as possibly more dangerous than these out-of-line offenders is exactly whey we need police reform – they need better training if they can’t figure out how to address these legit complaints and give a warnings and/or fines instead of crazy arrests.
When I called 311 to report hours-long explosions at 108th/Manhattan Ave., his answer was that this is just 4th of July “stuff” and was normal. I said we’re not living in a normal year, that people are dying here, and have died, and others are grieving, and others are exhausted from long, grueling shifts at the hospitals in our neighborhoods and come HOME, here! – for rest, and respite, and sleep.
We live here together, and we’re in this together.
What’s the celebration the fireworks are for, or is it just to be annoying to others?
it’s called lawlessness. once it was seen police won’t stop looting, then anything else is free game.
It’s great that there’s a venue for putting a focus on issues like this that make people’s lives hellish: excessive noise in the city that doesn’t (can’t) sleep. And the fact that “many of the complaints have been classified by 311 as “unfounded” or “unnecessary.” makes it so much worse.
We pay more in taxes than anyone anywhere and this (nothing) is what we get for it?
While I don’t hear the fireworks (yet), I have a commercial exhaust fan on the roof directly above my head that sounds like the world’s loudest coffee grinder, so believe me when I tell you I’m sympathetic.
One thing that endeared the Bloomberg administration to me no end was their focus on noise… and now we’ve devolved to it’s “unfounded and unnecessary”.
Please keep up the good work; the city gov’t may not want to hear about it, but we do.
ALL HAIL THE FOURTH ESTATE! The press is the (only?) friend of the people!
I understand the conflict and tension from asking the police in this environment to do more. The noise disruption has to be stopped somehow as it clearly disruptive to people needing to sleep, children and pets. It is also potentially dangerous.
I see that the police need to be able to catch the perpetrators in the act. Since it is know approximately where the fireworks are being set off, why can’t the police patrol or have a presence in those specific areas?
Fireworks have been set off nightly on W87 also. Seemingly from street level, meaning they could potentially injure pedestrians or cars.
I don’t understand the enforcement question:
“The question too is whether the police should be enforcing this kind of activity — at a time when many New Yorkers are pushing for a deescalated response to non-violent crime.”
Are we assuming that non-violent crime should be completely ignored (even though non-violent crime can become violent, for example if someone/something is hurt by the fireworks). Are we assuming that police cannot show up and issue warnings and/or tickets? that their only response will be escalated and violent?
Fireworks enforcement provides the opportunity for the police to prove that they can resolve problems while respecting human rights. A deescalated response does not mean no response at all.
They are doing the same thing in Inwood.
During the ‘questions from the press’ section of deB’s morning sit-down today, he was asked about the fireworks and said he heard them last night and, in response to the question, not to the fireworks, he said was going to speak to the police department. Really?
A ridiculous argument that the criminal needs to be “caught in the act”. Here’s an answer : Have the police PATROL THE STREETS
The police are patrolling the streets.
https://twitter.com/NYScanner/status/1273797935189364736?s=20
The reporter needs to be in the area between 10PM and 4AM. Fireworks are timed beautifully so just as you are falling asleep again, another set goes off.
Last night was the worst night so far. It stopped for a while and then it ramped up after midnight. Those later ones sounded like bombs.
Keep protesting.
Keep looting.
And defund the police.
Get rid of the police altogether.
Then you can dial 911, 311, or any police number.
NOBODY WILL COME!!!!!
Ironically, no police are coming to deal with this anyway. Either way, we’re not getting any solution to the problem.
There are two clear solutions to this problem, in my opinion. Have police patrol the area, for, despite what Ms. Crean said, you don’t need to catch him in the act, you can also PREVENT it from happening. Another, call Ms. Rosenthal’s office. It was noted that her office has only received one call. Time to call her, tweet her, etc when this happens again. That’s an easy fix.
There are two clear solutions to this problem, in my opinion. Have police patrol the area, for, despite what Ms. Crean said, you don’t need to catch him in the act, you can also PREVENT it from happening. Another, call Ms. Rosenthal’s office. It was noted that her office has only received one call. Time to call her, tweet her, etc when this happens again. That’s an easy fix.
The people demanded an end to broken window policing. Here you go.
it’s going on til nearly 2 am in Brooklyn. if it stops by midnight on UWS, consider yourselves lucky 🙂
I wish… it most definitely goes way past midnight
This is happening all over the country.
I’ve been 20 mins outside Phila and it goes on all night, sounds like it’s on the block but 5 miles away. It’s pretty unnerving, perhaps intentionally so. Makes you wonder who’s supplying the fireworks – they’re not cheap, and would cost an individual $12 each, so thousands $$ for the 6 hrs we hear every night. These are not just kids having a little fun.
Exactly what I was thinking… it’s being paid for and orchestrated…..
Haha. So cute to be discussing things like leashing dogs and fireworks on this website. People please wake up – there is no law in this city. No enforcement. No policeman in their right mind will risk anything to enforce these things. I hear a lot of talk a lot the right that people have. The right to do this, to act this way, to demand such and such from their government etc. what about people’s responsibilities? What about the responsibility people have to behave in a way that’s accountable to their community and country to obtain their rights? Silence on a topic that requires hard work and discipline.
No enforcement under DeBlasio and there never will be so long as he is mayor. Am proud to say that man never got my vote and am a Dem.
Where are these fireworks coming from? When I was a kid, merrily experimenting with demolition, it was pretty hard to get hold of fireworks and we saved most of ours for the 4th. To have enough to set off for hours on end means there’s an arsenal somewhere.
Generally, they came from out of town, people would drive down to South of the Border in South Carolina, load up, come home and sell the extras at a markup to subsidize the trip. But you couldn’t fit enough in a car to do multi-hour displays for multiple nights.
Now it is a 90-minute drive to Pennsylvania cross the border and there are fireworks Mega stores they go in vans or rent a truck
it is impossible for the police to do anything about it now those days are gone
I find it hard to believe that we cant figure out who is setting off fireworks, repeatedly, at length, night after night, in a 5 block radius.
“I find it hard to believe that we cant figure out who is setting off fireworks, repeatedly, at length, night after night, in a 5 block radius.”
They disappear in a puff of smoke.
I live in the 90s and have seen the fireworks every night for the last week, from about 10pm to 1am. They seem to be coming from around 96th to 100th St, in between Columbus and Amsterdam. They are typically exploding around 10 to 15 floors above street level. The noise keeps waking up and scaring my kids, who are already increasingly anxious given all the events of the past 3 months.
If you and other people are seeing them that high up (10-15 stories), stands to reason they must be being launched from rooftops.
Maybe that knowledge can help solve this..?
The fireworks are being set off on 90th st by the new playground. You can see the used fireworks in the morning.
Why would cops want to enforce this now? Nobody’s getting hurt and it’s a great way to make it look like they’re important. Plus they just open themselves up to being filmed for another #BLM tweetfest. I’d bet the cop unions are telling them to ignore it.
Why would cops who have been vilified by so many on the UWS care to help them solve their fireworks-induced sleep and anxiety problems? They’re not immune to the attacks on police that emanate from the BLM protests.
There seems to be a pattern to this illegal fireworks. Shouldn’t be too hard for the Precinct ANTI CRIME TEAM to quickly seize the illegal fireworks, make arrests and restore peace & quiet to the neighborhood.
This fireworks problem is another example of what happens when you have bonehead leadership making decisions in a lunatic city administration.
Bring back the BROKEN WINDOWS theory of policing. That was real COMMUNITY POLICING.
Re: “Shouldn’t be too hard for the Precinct ANTI CRIME TEAM to quickly seize the illegal fireworks….”
NYPD Commissioner Shea, bowing to librul pressure, is DOING AWAY with the Anti-Crime units. Shea seems like a good-guy and I would NOT ever want to be in his predicament, so let’s not be quick to condemn him…nor his uniformed officers.
B/T/W: NONE of the sensation-seeking lefty media has EVER mentioned that our NYPD is NOT all ‘white’ but rather “looks like the people it serves”, thanks to former ‘Commish’ Ray Kelley.
The sounds were particularly loud and seemed to continue for a much longer duration late last night to past midnight. Because it went on for so long I ruled out bombs!
Get used to it, folks. The NYPD will not make arrests around Frederick Douglas Houses unless perhaps they see a murder in progress.
The protestors won. We are beginning to see a police force in retreat, living in fear of even arresting anyone. Meanwhile, the good people in the neighborhood, including so many in NYCHA buildings, will pay the price.
My God.
The comments here are unbelievable.
You threaten an organization like the NYPD with defunding and what do you think they are going to do?
Stop the looting? No.
Respond to your dog off the leash complaints. No.
And the cyclists, oh God the cyclists who wake up every morning wanting to run you down.
Change is difficult. Reforming a government is a messy business.
They are firing mortar rounds in my neighborhood. Get used to it. People are smart and when they sense weakness or discourd they will strike.
Find a decent candidate for Mayor who is firm but fair with everyone. Then vote.
In the meantime get used to indifference and dirty streets. It’s what we deserve.
When I was a high school teacher and I was criticized by a student or a parent, I stopped teaching all my classes.
When I collected garbage for a summer and was criticized by a homeowner because I left a few scraps of garbage on his property, I stopped collecting garbage for the whole neighborhood.
But when I became a policeman and me and my fellow officers were criticized, I REALLY DID IT, I DID,
I STOPPED POLICING – BECAUSE WE HAVE THE GUNS AND THE POWER AND THE UNION!
Who do these people think they are to walk away from
their jobs, their responsibilities, and their oaths?
Start all over. Raise their starting salaries enormously. Require them to live in the neighborhoods they serve for their first five years of service. Too many live in the suburbs and have no connection with the cities they serve — the root of so many problems.
It would have to be mandatory, because cops are afraid to work in the neighborhood where they live.
I have a video of people unloading a large Rubbermaid container of fireworks from their suv and distributing them. I also have videos of them lightening off. Often, they hit buildings with open windows. I have called 311 and 911 (when they hit a building). No one responds to these calls. The operator does not want the videos.
Send your video of fireworks being distributed to the press and the fbi
This is now international news
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8438887/New-Yorkers-launch-illegal-fireworks-shocking-footage.html
Matt, if you have videos, why don’t you send them to
NY1 or 7 on Your Side? Maybe they can help us. A friend told me it’s happening on the east side too. As someone on this thread noted, fireworks are expensive so that’s a lot of money being blasted every night.
I hear your sense of urgency!
I’m in the vacinity of 109th/110th – it is dangerous, and not just fireworks!
I have called both 311 and 911 too.
I will say again, this is not about whining, entitlement or kvetching.
Respect is a two way street.
Call a community activist or social worker. Let’s see how the new police reforms work out for everyone.
It is so frequent it would not be hard to find out the source.
These are more than just fireworks. There are M80s put in garbage cans! One night it shook our building at 11:00 pm. The next night, at 9:00 pm, one exploded in the garbage can at the corner of our street (between Amsterdam and Broadway).
Please, everyone reading this, understand we are all coming out of a deeply stressful time. Such booms are extremely dangerous all around! This is not about whining, kvetching or entitlement. It’s about respect for one another.
They were being set off in front of residential bldgs near Morningside Park at 12:30 AM last night (as has been the case nightly for the last several weeks). I looked at 311’s site, which said 911 should be called if any fireworks are in the process of being used. I didn’t want to call 911 bc not an “emergency” so I called the 28th Precinct. The officer who picked up my call said they’d been getting tons of calls about fireworks and were planning to have a patrol car drive around to inspect “but you can’t really catch these guys, so what can you do?” I told him I could give him an exact address less than 2 minutes’ drive from the precinct, he said “our hands are really tied, it’s just a cat and mouse game.” And then he hung up… without hearing the location of the fireworks in progress. I fully appreciate why police would feel less than eager to chase down fireworks complaints in the current atmosphere, and I also don’t think that a general nuisance is the end of the world, but there was some legit concern about safety (burning embers blowing back against bldgs and into windows) and I was sort of disappointed they didn’t even care to know where this happening (meaning it’s not being tracked).
I wish I knew:
1. Are the same people setting them off daily or is it something that everyone will eventually take part in? (Like I’ll find out “you’re on duty next Tuesday, make sure your mask is fireproof”?)
2. Is there any specific meaning? Is it an expression of protest, or just kids letting off steam as the school year wraps up? I can imagine there are a number of possible conclusions but it would be more effective if the message were clear… without widely communicated specifics, the result is just a bunch of people complaining about sleep.
3. Where are the fireworks coming from? I have no idea how much they might cost, but even if they’re not expensive, the cost must add up based on frequency and volume? I’ve seen mostly young people (late teens, early 20s) setting them off… do they just have huge fireworks budgets?
I’m genuinely interested to understand more about it, because it seems likely this is not just coincidence.
I love that people on this page are blaming lack of enforcement of fireworks on the demonstrations!! Or another way of saying it Black Lives Matter. Guess what! I’ve lived in the 24th precinct for near 40 years. I have had car accidents, cars stolen, reported vandalism, reported muggings. Do you know how many times the police came out and wrote a report on any of those incidents? Once!! When my car was stolen outside my building. So dream on. Cops are going to go looking for those setting off fireworks?? Not gonna happen. We have a police department focused on some crimes and not on others. Who seem more interested in messing with protestors than confronting looters. Even while we are very heavily taxed.
Every single night around my house there are these powerful loud fireworks and I cant sleep because of that and now we might have to move.
I live at 100th and Central Park West and it sounds like a war zone every night. My dog is terrified and shaking, her poor little heart pounding, when those fireworks go off, This is not a question of “non-violent crime.” It’s not “4th of July stuff.” It’s animal cruelty. Do whoever is setting off those rockets hate animals?
11:15pm.fireworks starting just in time for bed! Cannot wait for the midnight show.
Given the current tense situation, these loud blasts sound more like a war than upcoming 4th of July celebration. I hear it right now. Last night it went on past 4am. It’s horrendous and scary. And as a woman I won’t investigate in the middle of the night where it’s coming from. It’s the job of the police!!! My friend’s cats won’t come out from under the bed that’s how scared they are. And us humans can’t sleep and feel disturbed. ENOUGH!!!!!
What about sending up a drone with a camera?
Drones are a great idea,
But nothing can done. Even if you find the hundreds
Who are setting pff fireworks
This problrm is ubiquitous all over.
Lower central park is blasted as soon as the sun sets,
Nonstop.
The city has enough tension without these morons
Inundating our senses with this useless bombardment of
Noise.
I wish i had a solution.
Does anyone
Just cross the border into PA and you can legally buy all the fireworks you want.
No doubt easy to get whatever you want in Chinatown too in June/July.
Sure it is illegal and probably annoying but it is cheap entertainment for people in the projects who are probably more stressed out regarding money and food than the average WSR commenter.
Haven’t noticed it here in the mid 70’s/RSD area.
I’m in the low 70’s and I’ve been hearing it every night. Between that and the helicopters and the sirens, plus the people out in the street, it sounds like a war zone. 🙁
Yes, it is easy for you to describe it as “cheap entertainment” when you don’t hear it.
It is nerve-wracking, sleep-wrecking, and constant.
And a reminder of some people’s selfishness, among other things.
The barrage is going on as I type.
before 10pm okay, but 1, 2, 3 AM really? I have been living on the upper west side for over 50 years and this has been the worst year.
Did you hear the round that started last night at 4:15?! Pure insanity!
Easy to get fireworks in Penn. Right over the border via rt.78 there are two gigantic fireworks stores.
E
I Love Fireworks but I don’t want to hear it every single day & during late nights it has to stop.
Not sure if I was “screened” for some reason earlier but I’ll try again. I was in a Duane Reade at 9:30pm last night on Amsterdam & while entering, a man with his arms full of snacks and drinks walked right out ignoring the staff and the security guard. It was bold, brazen and no, he was not someone starving. It was defiant and was unsettling walking past him as he had an angry look. The staff knew not to pursue him (whether for fear for themselves or of being sued).
My point? After 20 years here, it’s obvious people are more brazen & do not fear the consequences. Is this a good thing? You tell me. I’m concerned how much more bold it will get.
That’s nothing new and it happens at the DR on 94th and Columbus too. Thug losers walk in a take stuff and brazenly walk out with it. It’s not worth it for them to try to stop it. Theft is a big reason why a lot of DRs have closed on the UWS lately.
Meh. It’s a way of life around here. I’ve lost count at the amount of people I’ve seen at Whole Foods fill up a container of food at the buffet / salad bar, and just eat it all as they stroll around with their cart. Some were well dressed. All white people, men and women, lots of seniors. The most brazen I’ve ever seen was a few years ago, where a tall white guy wearing a backpack filled up three large containers of food by the buffet, and just walked out. Nobody stopped him, including the security guard at the entrance. Glad I won’t have to see that anymore, as the buffet has gone the way of the dodo.
thanks for adding some context
This has been going on for years, and we’ve been told more than once that DR would rather eat the cost than hire security. OTC meds (now under lock and key) were once regularly stuffed into backpacks at B’way locations while customers and employees were verbally threatened. So DR finally came through with a security guard and nothing was done because the guy stealing the snacks looked bold and brazen? Was he hired just to appease the neighborhood? I suppose it’s pointless to ask if anyone called the police. It’s beyond frustrating.
It was 79th and it seemed like the staff and security guard were frustrated but were following a protocol. Seemed that this is how DR is handling this rampant stealing. I’ve talked to some cops & they are constantly at DR’s (and McDonald’s of course – #1 store for 911 calls here) but most logical answer is there is no penalty that means anything to those that do it. If they get off and nothing ever happens, what is going to stop it? Was very sad and uncomfortable to see firsthand.
Which cross-street?
On Amsterdam, so I’m guessing 79th.
For all those who are proponents of defunding the police, take a glimpse into what you’re going to get. This is just the beginning and fairly trivial compared to where it’s headed when that happens.
And frankly, I’m tired of being preached to about systematic racism without it being balanced with some serious discussion of miscreant behavior and self accountability for one’s actions.
So long as it’s a “serious discussion of miscreant behavior and self accountability” for EVERYONE, I am all for it.
That’s what #BLM demonstrations are fundamentally about–the systemic racism and the lack of justice in the criminal justice system–the fact that Black Lives Matter too!
Almost every night on 90th street b/w amsterdam and columbus, at ridiculous hours of the night/morning. Absurd.
Why are there helicopters over Morningside park at 118th tonight 6/19 at 10:25??? Anybody know what’s going on?
From my bedroom on 101st St, the cherry bombs have been coming from the corner of 101 and Manhattan Ave. in the street not on Douglass property. And on Tuesday night I was able to see those doing it — and they were NOT kids but grown men. People at that corner were screaming at them but to no avail. It goes on all night. I agree with the comment below that just some police cars roaming around would likely have an effect in prevention. No need for a heavy hand.
Right now I am watching a Grant Houses fireworks show with 2 police SUV ‘s parked on the corner and the cops are laughing going into the deli. So yes, you can count on the next week being quite noisy.
M80s on 108th scared the living crap out of me on Monday night, sounded like a bomb shook windows.