After a fine dinner at Pinche Taqueria, my wife and I were walking down Bleeker Street (between Lafayette and Bowery) and, well… this:

I had to stop to make sure I was seeing it right, and sure enough, the hood of the car is being smashed in by the backhoe.

I suppose seeing me standing there taking photos was drawing attention, because by the time I left, there was a crowd of people looking at the car, people peering out of apartment windows, lots of laughing, lots of joking, and people calling “shotgun” on who gets to post this to Reddit first.

A number of questions come to mind. Whose car is this? Why did the person driving the backhoe do this? Was it intentional? Did the BMW driver piss off the backhoe operator? Was it stupidity? When will the lawsuit drop and who’s going to pay for this?

Regardless of whether this makes the NYC news or not (I’m sure there will be too many stories about Honey Boo Boo or something equally stupid to show this), I’m sure the driver of the construction vehicle will be fired, but the work permits were applied for by a guy named Martin Donovan, so I guess he’ll be held ultimately responsible for footing the bill. (Update 2: Noticed that both vehicles were parked illegally in a spot that has no parking b/t 7 am and 7 pm, Mon – Fri. Makes the question of legal responsibility for the damage a little more muddy, doesn’t it?)

Vehicle information and more photos in the gallery:

Update:

Found this photo on Reddit of the car earlier today, before the backhoe dropped onto the hood.