Climate change activists claim they randomly started deflating tires on 40 SUVs parked on the Upper East Side this week — leaving behind fliers that warned: “Your gas guzzler kills.”
The Tyre Extinguishers, a group that originally started in the UK, boasted of targeting dozens of vehicles Tuesday night in what the activists described as its first ever “action” in the Big Apple.
“The Tyre Extinguishers have disarmed SUVs in New York City for the first time,” the group wrote on its website. “40 SUVs had their wheels deflated in the Upper East Side — home to the greatest concentration of individual wealth in NYC.”
Cops said they’re investigating after receiving complaints of two SUVs being targeted in the area, the NYPD told The Post Friday.
A 49-year-old man had alerted police after he noticed two of his vehicles, which were parked on East 65th Street, with deflated tires just before 12.30 a.m. on Tuesday, cops said.
No arrests have yet been made and the investigation is still ongoing, police added.
The activists, who warned that more US cities would be targeted in the coming weeks, posted a photo on Twitter of an unidentified person deflating a tire.
They also shared an image of a flier left on a windshield that read: “Attention — your gas guzzler kills.”
“We have deflated one or more of your tires. You’ll be angry, but don’t take it personally. It’s not you, it’s your car,” the group wrote.
“We did this because driving around urban areas in your massive vehicle has huge consequences for others. This is a machine that destroys life with terrifying efficiency.”
The group — who say they’ve carried out similar action in the UK, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Sweden and New Zealand — said they target SUVs specifically because they are “a climate disaster” and “cause air pollution.”
“The Tyre Extinguishers want to see bans on SUVs in urban areas, pollution levies to tax SUVs out of existence, and massive investment in free, comprehensive public transport. But until politicians make this a reality, Tyre Extinguishers action will continue,” the group said.
