(Image: YouTube/MerasZuokas)
BY JJ BAILEY
You're watching multisource world news analysis from Newsy.
Welcome to Vlinius, Lithuania. It’s the capital of the country, nearly 700 years old, and has a population of half a million. It also has a little problem with citizens parking illegally.
“In the past few days, expensive cars have been illegally parked in almost the exact same place- a Rolls Royce and a Ferrari. What should the city do about drivers who think they are above the law?”
That was Vilnius mayor Arturas Zuokas. So how should he take care of the problem? Write tickets? Heavy fines? Maybe impound the cars?
“I think a tank is the best solution.”
The mayor hops in a tank, runs over a Mercedes, smiles, then says, “That’s what will happen if you park your car illegally!”
OoooKay! Now that’s- a problem solver. The video quickly caught the Internet’s eye, and Zuokas received support from all over the world. An avid cyclist himself, Zuokas used a Russian military tank to drive over a car parked in the bicycle lane, and straight into the hearts of millions.
A writer for Death and Taxes thanks the mayor for doing what so many residents of major cities wish they had the power to do.
“The difference between you and Zuokas, however, is that he recently used his power and a Russian army tank to live out one of your deepest, angriest fantasies....”
“‘I wanted to send a clear message that people with big and expensive cars can’t park wherever they feel like and ignore the rights of pedestrians and bike riders,’ he said, using a bigger and more expensive car to drive his message home.”
A spokesman for the mayor has said the video was a stunt- claiming that Zuokas bought the Mercedes just for the video. But his point has been heard loud and clear. It has some morning anchors at HLN on their toes...
“Man, what would they do to jay walkers over there? I don’t want to know."
“I don’t care if it WAS staged, I wouldn’t mess with him.”
And it has New York City residents calling for Mayor Bloomberg to suit up
“Mayor Bloomberg, any chance you might consider crushing an improperly parked NYPD cruiser in the name of bike safety? I'm sure that Mayor Zuokas would be happy to give you some tank-driving lessons. Think of it as a cultural exchange.”
The scary thing? Looks like he’s listening. After a few calls to go “monster mash” through the city on Twitter, New York Deputy Mayor Howard Wolfson responded that the NY leaders were...
“Firing up the tank now.”
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