Gothamist: Taxi Inferno Outside Rockefeller Center

monkeycake

Wed, 19 Sep 2007 13:51:13 -0500

another tragedy of a George Forman grill plugged into the cigarette lighter heating up skewered lamb chunks for the driver's lunch

guest

Wed, 19 Sep 2007 00:34:58 -0500

guest #20 - glad you liked the pics of the kids. ;-) guest #19 - sorry about the physics error - the point is, the gas tank didn't explode. There were several small pops (most people assumed them to be the tires, although I assume at some point, whatever gas was there ignited as well). In any case, my point was the car wasn't propelled into the air with debris flying everywhere, etc. It was a very controlled burn... In other news, my colleague sent me his cellphone pics, which I've now posted on my site as well: http://www.familygreenberg.com/2007/09/taxi.html -Brian Greenberg -http://www.familygreenberg.com/blog.htm

guest

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 19:13:33 -0500

This was obviously a controlled demolition. I want the 9/18 TRUTH!

guest

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 19:13:23 -0500

Channel 4 News just said the cab driver said he was the way to a mechanic.

guest

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 18:51:57 -0500

Bush and Cheny did it....bastards!!!!!!

guest

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 18:51:04 -0500

I new a woman whose crotch smelled like 9/11.

edEx

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 18:39:34 -0500

a car doesn't need a bomb to explode. this is a clear case of a missle/

guest

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 17:28:51 -0500

I was eating lunch outside at Rockefeller Center, around the corner from this when it started. It certainly got everyone's attention. And there were a couple of small explosions--although most likely just the tires exploding from the heat.

sebeticus

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 17:25:52 -0500

There was no explosion. Witnesses heard the popping of the tires from the heat after the cab caught fire but there was no explosion (i.e. no bomb!)

guest

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 17:14:27 -0500

It was a plan by Aswad (medallion 46t5r) for insurance fraud. His brother, Aknob, did the same thing not more than 20 days ago.

guest

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 17:09:36 -0500

no idea. try a google search?

guest

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 17:02:13 -0500

#35- damn right it would be a tragedy!! On another post someone mentioned a picture of Jen bending over showing off her cleavage. Anyone know where it is?

guest

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 17:01:51 -0500

wow #35...thats not even close to being appropriate. everyone knows boobs don't burn in explosions.

edEx

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 16:35:58 -0500

Excuse me driver, can you roll down the windows back here? I'm burnin up!

guest

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 16:12:54 -0500

the headline does not indicate any terror related activity. not even a little bit. Are you talking about the current headline or the original?

guest

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 15:59:22 -0500

does anyone know if jen chung's boobs were hurt in the explosion? 'cause that would be a tragedy.

edEx

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 15:50:52 -0500

the headline does not indicate any terror related activity. not even a little bit.

guest

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 15:48:51 -0500

Hey Ace, I didn't force Jen to change it. It was a suggestion and apparently she agreed. And it may have been in fact wrong to say the cab exploded.

guest

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 15:46:54 -0500

Addressing the Guest #1, the cab did explode I was standing in front of it when it went boom and more spoke billowed down the street but thanks for the assumption and making the journalist sound like an idiot when in fact you are the moron!

guest

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 15:34:24 -0500

It looks like this cab may have had the flowers on the hood... I wonder if that contributed to it? I hope not.

guest

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 15:34:07 -0500

Interesting event, but was the cabbie an Arab type person or a Pakistani type person? This is a possible EVENT.

guest

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 15:30:36 -0500

this is my biggest nightmare (and my brilliant idea for a hollywood blockbuster): attack ny by having all the iraqi/pakistani cab drivers set off suicide bombs in their cabs at the exact same time all throughout the city.

mocanlagunas

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 15:30:20 -0500

I burnt my dinner last time. It smelled of 9/11 too... What a moron!

guest

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 15:28:17 -0500

We can now add Spontaneous Taxi Combustion to the list of Earth's weird phenomena. Like Ball Lightning.

Ace

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 15:27:01 -0500

Guest #1, the headline reads just fine the way it. Start your own blog and then word the headline any way your little heart desires.

guest

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 15:21:35 -0500

The gas tank could actually explore, especially if it is more fumes than liquid. This is why airplanes have special systems to keep jet fuel vapor out of the tanks.

guest

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 15:08:33 -0500

So it is true! WNBC's staff can actually cover news within a one-block radius of 30 Rock!

guest

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 15:06:29 -0500

Can we have a single bad thing happen in this damn city without somebody invoking 9/11? Is that too much to ask?

guest

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 15:02:52 -0500

#4, right on!

JRod5417

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 15:00:49 -0500

I saw the exact same thing happen last year by the Roosevelt Island tram. Cab just burning and windows blowing up while the cabbie stood by. Makes me wonder how often this happens.

guest

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 14:54:47 -0500

Hey Greenberg you have cute kids.

guest

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 14:53:31 -0500

Cars don't explode like in the movies, gas tank full or not. If fuel leaks from the tank or a ruptured fuel line under the hood, of course it will burn. If a lot of fuel is released from the tank all at once it will burn really hot and really fast. But in order to actually explode, the fuel tank would need the ideal mixture of gasoline vapor (not liquid) and air. So actually a full gas tank would not be a good candidate for an explosion. A nearly empty one would be much better, as you have lots of space for vapor and if you get the right amount of air in there (and an ignition source of course) then KABLAMMO - TWA 800 is a good example of that kind of scenario. Note to readers: movies and TV shows are not always the most reliable sources for real physics (shocking, I know). The movie is a lot less exciting if everybody runs for cover in slow motion but the burning car just sits there burning. Cars blow up in movies because they pack them with explosives. Cars don't blow up in real life unless they are similarly packed with explosives.

ThisCharmingMan

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 14:52:35 -0500

cyclists and pedestrians are a little bit safer today.

guest

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 14:43:38 -0500

I work in 50 Rockefeller Plaza & watched the aftermath of it from my office window. Here's the story without the dramatics: flames started coming out from under the hood. The cabbie got out of the cab & wasn't hurt. The cab never exploded (apparently, the gas tank wasn't full), but it did burn until it was a hunk of metal, plastic & glass. They just took it away on a forklift (picture from my office window here). I walked right past the whole thing at around 1:30 & didn't notice much of a smell at all. Now, it's 2:45 and the street is cleaned up & open to traffic. -Brian Greenberg -http://www.familygreenberg.com/blog.htm

guest

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 14:40:21 -0500

Big deal..taxi's burn and explode all the time...yawn

guest

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 14:38:00 -0500

Same thing happened in midtown last month, it was cleaned up in 20 minutes, no one reported anything on it.

edEx

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 14:37:52 -0500

stinks of 9/11? utterly ridiculous!

guest

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 14:34:54 -0500

#11, yes, "Taxi Inferno" would not have made me assume terrorism.

guest

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 14:33:24 -0500

i'm two blocks away and have seen/heard/smelled nothing. can't be that big of a deal.

guest

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 14:30:35 -0500

#1, does this headline meet your definition of "better-chosen"? It meets mine, but mine was "more danceable". Burn, baby, burn! Taxi Inferno! Dah da-da da-da!

guest

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 14:29:33 -0500

It's so freakin' lame when anyone compares any type of explosion to 9/11. People are so over-dramatic.

Jen Chung

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 14:28:38 -0500

#1 - good point, thanks.

guest

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 14:26:43 -0500

A reader says the "entire neighborhood stinks of 9/11." As opposed to an acrid smell of smoke, burnt metal and gasoline.

Rocknrope

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 14:25:58 -0500

"stinks of 9/11..." Literally or figuratively?

TK

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 14:22:20 -0500

hopefully last season's cast from SNL was inside.

guest

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 14:22:09 -0500

Holy crap.

guest

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 14:20:37 -0500

New York is back, baby!

guest

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 14:18:03 -0500

Was anyone in it?

guest

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 14:16:29 -0500

WHOA, COOL!!! Unless someone died, in which case just cool.

guest

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 14:15:11 -0500

Maybe you could choose your headline a little better because my first assumption was terrorism. The cab caught fire and then exploded although I am skeptical to if it actually "exploded". Regardless, your headline made me think an otherwise intact cab exploded like a bomb.