In a development nearly everyone (except perhaps New York City mayor Bill de Blasio) likely saw coming, NYC’s “social distancing tip line,” which New Yorkers can use to rat on friends and neighbors not abiding by “social distancing” and “shelter-in-place” orders, was inundated with obscene photos, angry memes, and photos of the mayor himself enjoying strolls in distant parks and trips to the gym.
The New York Post reports that New Yorkers and other assorted de Blasio critics “flood[ed] his new tip line with crank complaints including ‘d*ck pics’ and people flipping the bird.”
“Photos of extended middle fingers, the mayor dropping the Staten Island groundhog and news coverage of him going to the gym have all been texted to a special tip line that de Blasio announced Saturday, according to screenshots posted on Twitter,” per the Post.
The outlet adds that it is “not immediately clear” whether the offending texters all live in NYC.
Some of the mayor’s detractors took particular delight in “reporting” de Blasio himself to the tip line, especially given that the NYC mayor dragged his feet in instituting shelter-in-place orders that might have cut down on the number of coronavirus infections and COVID-19 related deaths in the city.
New York is responsible for nearly half of all coronavirus deaths in the United States and is the nation’s leading “hot zone.”
As The Daily Wire reported on Sunday, de Blasio’s city government designed the system so that NYC residents could “tattle on anyone they see who is not following his social distancing orders during the coronavirus crisis by snapping a photograph on their cell phones and texting it to the city.”
De Blasio announced the system himself in a video posted to Twitter: “How do you report places that aren’t enforcing social distancing? It’s simple: just snap a photo and text it to 311-692,” he instructed.
“Now it is easier than ever,” the mayor said. “When you see a crowd, when you see a line that’s not distanced, when you see a supermarket that’s too crowded — anything — you can report it right away so we can get help there to fix the problem.”
“We will make sure that enforcement comes right away. Text the photo to 311-692 and action will ensue. Enforcement will come to get the help we need,” de Blasio concluded, quickly adding that the snitch line will help to “save lives” in the long run. “Look, this is important. I want to keep reminding people: This is about saving lives. Sending that photo in is going to help make sure that people are kept apart and that’s going to stop the disease from spreading and that’s going to save lives.”
Any individual caught defying the mayor’s shelter-in-place order can be fined up to $500 per incident.
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