Crowd Overwhelms NYC’s Union Square as Giveaway Turns Into Melee

Several thousand people gathered in New York City’s Union Square on Friday afternoon, a police spokesperson said, briefly sparking chaos and temporarily disrupting mass transit.

(Bloomberg) — Several thousand people gathered in New York City’s Union Square on Friday afternoon, a police spokesperson said, briefly sparking chaos and temporarily disrupting mass transit.  

Authorities cited an “unscheduled event” and there were no reports of arrests or injuries, the police spokesperson said. The Associated Press reported the gathering was for a game console giveaway event organized by Kai Cenat, a popular Twitch streamer and YouTube creator.

Video on X, formerly known as Twitter, showed large crowds of people — many of them young men. Some were chanting and others were swinging around large traffic pylons. 

The New York City subway’s 4, 5, 6, L, N, Q, R and W trains will bypass the 14 Street-Union Square station in both directions because of police activity, the Metropolitan Transit Authority said earlier Friday. The New York City Police Department is advising people on social media to avoid the area surrounding Union Square Park and to expect traffic delays. 

 

–With assistance from Ian Fisher.

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