By Mark Hallum
Longtime Bayside activist Mandingo Tshaka believes a police presence is not enough to curb the use of illegal fireworks in his neighborhood and the ongoing complaint of noise in that area has remained unchanged from years before.
The area of 208th Street and 47th Avenue is where regular fireworks displays take place every year without police intervention of any kind, Tshaka said, as well as other locations near the 111th Precinct house on Northern Boulevard. The problem is in stark contrast to earlier years, according to Tshaka, because of the greater density of the neighborhood.
“When I was growing up, this was the country,” Tshaka said, explaining how the situation could end in disaster today with the fire hazard posed by illegal fireworks displays. “Now all these houses are so close together.”
The 111th Precinct, which covers Bayside and the surrounding neighborhoods, did not respond for comment before press time.
According to state law signed into effect in 2015, the private purchase of sparklers and other firecrackers which do not shoot upward is allowed. This law, however, restricts fireworks from being purchased or ignited within New York City limits, while the sale to individuals under the age of 18 is not allowed.
This was not the first time Tshaka has spoken out against weak enforcement of fireworks laws. In July 2015, he wrote a letter to the TimesLedger about the same issue and criticized the police response.
“On the night of July 4, I went out on my motorized wheelchair, wanting to see who was involved in setting off the explosive devices that can kill or maim,” Tshaka wrote. “To my surprise, I did come across a patrol car by the Community Baptist Church here in Bayside, while a block away it sounded like a war zone. Two officers were just sitting in the car claiming they were protecting the church. Who was protecting the citizens?”
On Wednesday, Tshaka called for the NYPD to investigate further fireworks violations and said the FDNY should be involved as well.
State Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) attributed the level of disruption in his district to the fact major fireworks displays in Manhattan and along the East River force NYPD to reassign police personnel from other precincts and diminish the level of enforcement in those neighborhoods.
“I’m sure Mandingo was right in terms of how bad it was in his neighborhood,” Avella said in 2016. “There isn’t enough police to investigate these things. All they can do is move around and discourage it from happening.”
Reach reporter Mark Hallum by e-mail at mhall
