Did you see any of this? I've been in NYC a half dozen times since Covid and never seen a car on a sidewalk (yes, it has happened 2 or 3 times in the past few years, but it's a big city and these are ISOLATED incidents, and it happened in Pre-covid times, too). I have no idea what the 'do your own thing with no repercussions" thing means, but these are just scare creeds, generally spoken by folks with an issue.
You were there. Will you tell your friends to watch out for cars on sidewalks?