Videos show NYC residents shooting fireworks at each other while complaints soar
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Startling videos have emerged purportedly showing New York City residents shooting fireworks at each other like weapons.
The clips are being posted online as fireworks-related complaints are surging in cities across the northeast. In New York City alone, calls to a government hotline to report the obnoxious blasts reportedly are up 4,000 percent, compared to this time last year.
One video shows a man sprinting across a road to avoid fireworks aimed at him. A police cruiser then drives through the area as the chaos continues unabated with fireworks exploding around it.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Another clip shows locals exchanging volleys of fireworks along a walking path in a housing complex. Some of the multicolored bursts can be seen hitting trees and flying over parked cars, while smoke fills the air.
It is not immediately clear if there were any injuries or arrests from the incidents.
The NYPD has not yet responded to a request for comment from Fox News.
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While the exact cause of the spike in fireworks activity remains unclear, police and industry insiders believe boredom from coronavirus stay-at-home orders is a driving factor.
"I think a lot of it is due to the COVID lockdown," Worcester Police Lieutenant Sean Murtha, whose city in Massachusetts is also experiencing an uptick in fireworks complaints, told WFXT earlier this week. "People are bored and now it’s nice weather so people want to go out and it’s something they can do without being in a large crowd."