All the lunacy going on between New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and the New York City Police Department has had one bizarre side benefit for any fans of hooning, according to data obtained by the New York Post. Traffic enforcement has basically ceased, turning the city into a Mad Maxian-automotive playground.
Well, I'm not entirely sure on the Mad Max part, but it seems inevitable, as traffic stops have dropped 94% since December 22nd:
Angry union leaders have ordered drastic measures for their members since the Dec. 20 assassination of two NYPD cops in a patrol car, including that two units respond to every call.
It has helped contribute to a nose dive in low-level policing, with overall arrests down 66 percent for the week starting Dec. 22 compared with the same period in 2013, stats show.
Citations for traffic violations fell by 94 percent, from 10,069 to 587, during that time frame.
In the same time span, tickets for parking violations are also down 92%, according to the Post. Also, New York City is apparently awesome now as arrests for public drinking and urination are also down 94%.
Sure, the drop in traffic citations is probably somewhat attributable to the holiday season, but even then that is a staggeringly massive drop. In December 2013, the NYPD issued 71,385 moving violations, and while December 2014 isn't over yet, the city isn't likely to come anywhere near that number issuing only 587 tickets over two weeks.
The Post is speculating it's all part of a slowdown strategy from the NYPD unions, in protest of what the Force feels is a pattern of unsupportive behavior (real or not) from Mayor de Blasio. There's decent evidence to support this theory.
The Mayor plans to meet with the unions today to mend fences, so the fun might not last too long.
In the meantime, pictured above is the NYPD saluting your fully sikkkkkkk burnouts down Houston Street today. Also, please do not kill any children or the elderly while you're doing it, as it is nobody but the citizens who suffer when cops pull this kind of petulant crap.
And then we'll really have a fun conversation about whose got blood on their hands.
Photo credit: Getty Images