It’s not as if Bill de Blasio invented snitching in New York. It has a long history, from the United States Sentencing Guidelines which offered only one way out of their clutches to the ubiquitous ad campaign following 9/11, See Something, Say Something. When the former worked so well turning brother against brother, turning “good” New Yorkers against evil terrorists hardly seemed a stretch.

So why not turn neighbor against neighbor?

How do you report places that aren’t enforcing social distancing? It’s simple: just snap a photo and text it to 311-692. #AskMyMayor pic.twitter.com/WQdCcVf1Rl

— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) April 18, 2020

After all, it was “life or death,” which has already been proven to be a sufficient motivator to turn even the most empathetic, especially the most empathetic, into the worst of rats. There seems to be an as yet unexplored correlation between the pretense of passionately caring about others to silencing, complaining, scolding and ultimately snitching them out. What use is being in the right if you can’t damage those who are in your wrong?

But the reaction to BdB’s snitch line didn’t turn out quite the way he expected. Instead of Karen putting it on speed dial, it caught the interest of wags.

People sure are getting a lot of use out of that tip line- by sending in their “tips.”

De Blasio may be getting more than he bargained for when people started sending in “dick pics” instead of snitching out their neighbors and local businesses.

Additionally, the line has been used for people to send in extended middle fingers, things de Blasio has done wrong during the pandemic and Nazi memes.

Of course, a lot of people are sitting around at the moment, without much to do to amuse themselves. Why dick pics is a question for younger folks to answer, as it’s not the “go to” idea for us olds under any circumstances, but that could just be a generational thing.

Cue the rebels who drowned the service with a flood of prank messages that forced a temporary shutdown. They sent images of people flipping the bird and of the mayor dropping Staten Island Chuck as well as stories on his gym outings amid the shutdown — and even “d–k pics” and Hitler memes.

Now the city has to vet every message up-front, rather then automatically sending info on to the appropriate precinct.

It’s sad that the elected leader of this town understands his citizens so poorly.

But the good laugh people are getting from their witty remittances to the good mayor’s snitch line will wane quickly, as the joke’s been played, and then the more serious folks won’t be lost in the rash of groundhog droppings.

“I’d rather yell at them,” said out-of-work waiter Edwin Mendoza. “If you take a picture, that could cause a scene … People can hurt you.”

But Chris Colon, 26, works as a hospital clerk, and felt differently.

“With the way thing are now, I would snitch on anybody,” said Colon. “Have you seen how many people died in New York?”

If BdB erred in his rollout, it was that it went viral on social media and found its way into the hands of bored rebels. But that doesn’t mean BdB doesn’t know his people, meaning both the fearful of the city who forgot about Bill’s “go to Chinatown” pleas well after the coronavirus arrived from Wuhan, as well as the progressives who believe its their duty to rat out heretics.

My reaction to the creation of a snitch line had nothing to do with images of any sort, but rather the mechanism he was creating and the snitch culture he was fostering. Sure, if you saw something you could always call the cops, but this upped the ante and reduced the personal cost. No longer was the interaction with a 911 operator, who asked for your name and made it your responsibility. Now there would be a direct line to the Social Distance SWAT Team, or whatever other response your image called for.

Would seeing people being happy next door at a gathering to which you weren’t invited and no one discussed the modalities of systemic racism compel certain New Yorkers to capture the image so the cops could capture the perps? Would neighbor rat out neighbor? Would they take comfort, if not pleasure, in watching the NYPD burst through the door with guns drawn and bystanders likely to die?

Perhaps there’s some innate desire in humankind to snitch on those who annoy or offend them, as well as do actual harm to others, just because they’re wrong. Perhaps BdB knows his people far better than he’s been given credit. After a few days, the joke will be played out, but the snitch line will remain intact. And New Yorkers won’t even have to get off their couch to make their world a better place.