A crowd of revelers threw bottles and insults at police officers who attempted to end their massive street party after reports of gunfire early Sunday, according to videos of witnesses and police sources.
An impressive video clip posted on Instagram shows multiple NYPD SUVs with flashing lights receding along Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard as people scream, march toward the police, and throw bottles, including an empty 1.75-liter bottle of liquor snatched from the sidewalk.
“Get the fk out of here!” a man yells repeatedly.
Before the retreat, several police officers in white shirts, which meant high-ranking officers, could be seen standing together near the vehicles.
Other clips, apparently filmed earlier, show people taunting New York police by launching aerial fireworks from the top of a pickup truck on the corner of West 132nd Street, and dancing lasciviously in front of a New York police cruiser and dramatically touching his hood.
“The police can’t stop st!” someone said at one point.
The chaos, which left the intersection littered with garbage, lasted several hours before the mob finally dispersed, with no arrests or injuries, sources said.
New York Police said a ShotSpotter electronic device was activated around 3:45 a.m. at West 133rd Street and Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard.
Seven spent cartridges were later recovered from a .45 caliber pistol and one from a .380 caliber pistol, although it was not clear exactly where, the sources said.
A police officer described the situation as “complete lawlessness.”
“I’m angry about that,” said the police.
“But then other policemen say, ‘Why do something? If you get out of the car and do something, you could be suspended or modified or arrested if you enter [it] with this person and put your knee on it. “
The police officer added: “But I am thinking of the innocent people who drive or walk, coming and going to work … In a moment you have to get up.” Enough is enough.”
The Benevolent Police Association tweeted a 44-second clip of the bottle launch, saying: “This is what a light touch looks like: Police officers who responded to a shooting job in Harlem last night encountered this.”
The union also said that Mayor Bill de Blasio, City Council President Corey Johnson (D-Manhattan) “and the company should be responsible for delivering our city.”
The Benevolent Sergeants Association tweeted the same clip and warned: “To all of our law enforcement friends both outside and in the United States. DO NOT visit NYC and DO NOT encourage friends and family to visit. The city is dangerous because our elected officials see it for yourself. “
Michelle Smalls, who owns a real estate agency of the same name and the High Maintenance Hair Spa at the northwest corner of 132nd Street and Adam Clayton Powell, said she was out of town in chaos but was “horrified” when whole.
“It’s one thing to have fun, but throwing bottles at the police is totally unacceptable,” he said. “I understand that they get together and have fun, but when they resort to violence it is no longer fun.”
She added: “It doesn’t seem funny to me. I don’t think it’s cute. It’s ignorant.
A neighborhood resident who identified himself as Marcus, 22, said he was attending a friend’s birthday barbecue on West 132nd Street when police officers appeared, “ready to go into battle” wearing helmets and riot gear.
“Well, a lot of us take it like, ‘F-k this, we’re not doing anything wrong and you’re not going to take our block,'” he said.
“I didn’t throw anything away, but I was angry, screaming and yelling, and one of my friends threw an empty vodka bottle that landed right in front of one of the cruises. After that, I ran away because I didn’t want to be arrested with any of the children who were shooting. “
Another resident, who identified himself as Darryl, said he was returning from a party elsewhere and “saw a conflict between blacks and the police.”
“The police officers got out of their cars and entered a military formation, lined up and ready to receive the command to go and rush everything,” he said.
“That scares people, so everyone discovered them as one … Black people wanted the police to know that this is our neighborhood and that they are not going to intimidate us.”
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