On Friday, I left my office and hit the street, heading for the subway station. As I approached the corner of 27th and Park Avenue South, I noticed a white van, stopped at a red light. The door opened and a man jumped out to the curb, whipped out a digital camcorder and started filming the vehicle.

The guys still in the van screamed and pumped their fists as the driver started spinning the wheels in place and burning the rubber as hard as he could. The squealing of the tires was quite loud and within a few seconds, thick clouds of white smoke started pouring out. Still, this guy wouldn’t stop. The wheels kept shrieking and the smoke got worse. Soon the entire car was mostly hidden inside a thirty foot column of smoke. Cars stopped along the street and people got out, thinking there was a fire or a bomb. Crowds started forming while others quickly decided to get the fuck away as fast as possible. Me, I whipped out my cellphone and snapped this shot.

Then, as strangely as it started, the wheels stopped. The side door was flung open and the guy with the camera jumped inside. The van tore off down 27th with both of it’s front wheels burned out. The smoke was disgusting and everything smelled like burnt rubber. As I continued to walk to the subway station, I passed the spot where the van was and saw a whole mess of melted rubber, still smoking. Nasty.