In Harlem, the noise lasts until 1 a.m., and ranges from the pops of firecrackers to the booms of louder rockets. An officer who answered the phone at the 32nd Precinct station house on Wednesday night said that the police were being inundated with complaints. “It’s as bad as anything I can remember,” said Adrian Benepe, a former city parks commissioner who lives on the Upper West Side. While they are illegal to buy, sell or ignite in New York, fireworks are an entrenched tradition of the city’s streets, especially in working-class neighborhoods. But this year, the unauthorized displays began at least a month earlier than usual, as other warm-weather get-togethers were halted by social-distancing rules.

Source: New York Times June 19, 2020 21:22 UTC