It’s not everyday that you get to see a taxi fucking blow up right in front of you, but that’s exactly what happened to me as I strolled down 7th Avenue this afternoon. First there was a burst of white smoke, then raging flames engulfing the entire yellow cab, then thick black smoke billowing down several blocks, freaking out everybody in the vicinity. It took a little while for the FDNY to respond, but when they did hit the scene it was in full force, with maybe a dozen fire trucks and cop cars keeping order. One thing that can be said: even nine years after 9/11, explosions and smoke and loud sirens on the streets of NYC still can be extremely terrifying — even when, like this incident, nobody got hurt. Watch video of the blow-up here:

CAB BURNING, not sure how it caught fire. Luckily nobody inside.