Thousands turn up to smoke cigarette with man who handed out flyers asking people to join him

Just another day in 2025...

In what might be the most New York thing to come out of New York since the last crazy New York thing, more than 2,000 people turned out to smoke a cig with Bob in the Big Apple.

The gathering happened after Bob, aka the 'cigarette maestro' went out handing out flyers, inviting people to join him on a smoke break between 2pm and 2.05pm on 21 November outside Washington Square Park.

He handed out a map, a picture of himself, and a QR code with the delightful treat of a free smoke if they pre-booked their attendance.

Bob, who goes by the Instagram handle @breakinggbob, shared a number of videos to his page showing the moment.

He captioned one video: "If you don’t smoke, don’t start. If you currently smoke, and you have the willpower, quit. If you don’t have the willpower, at least reduce it. But if you just love smoking and it brings you joy, light it up!"

In videos, Bob can be seen signing cigarette packs, handing out cigarettes and declaring that he was "living his dream".

People took to the comments to share their thoughts.

One person wrote: "Single-handedly bringing civilization back together, love it Bob."

Another person quoted LCD Soundsystem and put: "New York, you’re perfect. Please don’t change a thing."

While another commenter said: "Smoking is bad for you but community is good for you so I think it evens out."

Of course we don't recommend smoking to anyone, but that doesn't stop Bob being an absolute legend.