I was passing by when hundreds of bikers and ATV riders descended on the BP and Global gas stations on Van Dam Street in Long Island City late yesterday afternoon. Some gassed up their rigs while the others waited, idled, hot-rodded, did wheelies. Not something I, for one, see every day, so it was cool on that count.
At the end of this video they move up Van Dam to Queens Boulevard, partly surrounding the car traffic then banking a right and roaring off as the sun sets behind them.
It was Halloween night so that should explain the costumes.
This small army of bikers and ATV riders may have needed a parade permit for this size and type of rally, particularly on these two counts:
- disrupting traffic at any location for 10 minutes or more;
- allowing event participants to pass stop signs, yield signs, or traffic signals where they would normally have to stop or yield to other traffic;
Maybe they had one, probably not. Whatever the case it’s not like I was going to report them.
It was a fun spectacle but their bike exhaust fumes toward the end especially, at Queens Boulevard and Van Dam, when they were really scorching the engines, overtook the air at that intersection. My eyes watered and head hurt for a good couple of hours.
Worse than that: At the very end someone loses their hat! It’s all fun and games until someone loses a hat, right?
