Sandy MaloneQueens, NY – Hundreds of mourners on motorbikes and all-terrain vehicles (ATV) completely ignored the city’s “stay at home” order to attend a funeral in Queens last Friday (video below).
The funeral gathering occurred at about 10:30 a.m. on April 3 at the Leahy McDonald Funeral Home located at 111th Street and Atlantic Avenue in Jamaica, the New York Post reported.
The New York Police Department (NYPD) Sergeants Benevolent Association (SBA) tweeted videos of the high-speed funeral procession, complete with the casket on a trailer pulled by a three-wheeler, and motorbikes popping wheelies in the roadway.
One of the videos showed mourners gathered together in the streets in violation of all social distancing guidelines while masked officers directed traffic resulting from the funeral procession.
“Happening Now more Lunacy! 400 plus bikers gathering crowds in 102 PCT heading to funeral,” the SBA tweeted. “NYPD having to call a level 1 mobilization. On the way to 72-02 Astoria Blvd 114 PCT. Only in DeBlasio’s city, during a pandemic.”
Even the motorbikes and ATVs were clustered so tightly on the roadway that at times, there was less than two feet between them, the video showed.
A pickup truck with “RIP Nene” and birth and death dates written on the back window drove by in the video but it was not known if “Nene” was the person for whom the funeral was being held, the New York Post reported.
There were two officers directing traffic and another eight stationed at the funeral home as the procession went by, the video showed.
But the officers in the video appeared to be staying away from the gathered mourners as much as possible, the New York Post reported.
A spokesperson for the funeral home said the police had come inside the facility but had not issued any tickets.
NYPD told WPIX that police were told about the funeral the night before, but hadn’t been told how big it would be.
She said there were two NYPD vehicles playing a social distancing message over their speakers at the event.
NYPD said that no summonses were issued during the funeral procession, WPIX reported.
Social media went wild with criticism of the city for allowing the funeral to go on during the coronavirus pandemic, directly flouting both city and state guidelines for staying at home except for essential items.
An NYPD source told Blue Lives Matter that just looking at those officers directing traffic in masks, as hundreds of people without masks on motorbikes and ATVs crawled past them, made him cringe.
“Like hell I would direct traffic for that right now,” he said, outraged.
The source told Blue Lives Matter that the department is “impotent” to stop groups from gathering despite the “stay at home” order and it’s frustrating for officers to be sent in to deal with the crowds.
Especially because NYPD doesn’t actually want the officers to do anything proactive about the problem, he told Blue Lives Matter.
“What cop is going to really try to stop it when they know that if something goes south, they’re going to be left hanging?” he asked.
Watch video of the funeral gathering and procession here below: