Brooklyn BLM Group Blasts Mayor's Fireworks Task Force

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK — A Black Lives Matter-aligned Brooklyn group fears a police crackdown on illegal fireworks could backfire on communities of color.

Equality For Flatbush on Thursday condemned Mayor Bill de Blasio's law enforcement task force on illegal fireworks.

The group acknowledged Brooklynites' and New Yorkers' recent frustrations over a boom in nightly neighborhood fireworks displays. But they argued a police-led crackdown on fireworks would only further target and criminalize Black communities and other people of color.

"We simply do not want anyone to be murdered by the NYPD because of fireworks complaints," the group argued in a statement.

Equality For Flatbush labels itself as a "Black Lives Matter, police accountability, anti-gentrification/anti-displacement organization."

Fireworks complaints exploded as New Yorkers went into lockdown over the coronavirus, 311 data shows. Brooklyn, already the city's leader in fireworks calls pre-virus, saw the biggest increase, according to the data.

And much of that boom was sparked by Flatbush and Ditmas Park, which saw 300 calls alone from March to early June.

Some locals — dubbed #DitmasParkKaren by Equality For Flatbush — tried to organize Facebook groups for a "peaceful" neighborhood with the city's help.

The city did help, but not in a way many residents wanted to see, especially amid protests over the killing of George Floyd and police brutality. NYPD officers last week showed up in riot gear, BuzzfeedNews reported.

De Blasio, for his part, said this week that fireworks aren't the NYPD's priority. They'll only get intervene with local fireworks problems if they deem the situation dangerous, he said.

The task force is meant to go after illegal fireworks sellers, he said.

Some Brooklyn politicians like Borough President Eric Adams called for local Cure Violence groupsand other community organizations to handle fireworks problems. It shouldn't be the job of police, he argued.