The NYPD increased its presence in northern Manhattan Sunday as authorities prepared for a possible second teen takeover, one week after a large gathering turned violent and caused widespread disruption in the Dyckman area.
Streets were closed and police were deployed throughout the neighborhood as information about another planned gathering circulated on social media.
Thousands of young people swarmed Dyckman and the surrounding area the previous Sunday for what has been called a “teen takeover.”
The crowd became dangerous, with one person killed, two others injured and private property damaged.
Heavy traffic also clogged the area, while businesses were forced to close early.
Jamsy Enfante, the owner of Tabu Restaurant, described the situation as “crazy.”
“We had to close the door at 6 p.m. because it was too much people,” he told NY1. “They [were] running through, going back to the bathroom. You know, they don’t respect you, so we closed the door for the whole night.”
Ahmed Ali, the owner of Chop Cheese Deli, said his business lost hundreds of dollars.
“They steal a lot from my store. It’s over like $500, $600, they steal a lot. Because there were like 50 people here, I can’t control it. They were bad. And they take some things, put in the bag, they steal lots of boxes for kegs, they go out,” he said.
An employee at a local auto body shop told NY1 workers have been dealing with more than 20 vehicles damaged during last weekend’s unrest.
Local leaders addressed the takeovers during a news conference Friday.
“What we experienced in this part of our community was unacceptable, was dangerous. It created a situation where our neighbors could not safely transit into their homes. It created a situation where there was hundreds of thousands of loss in property damage, vehicle damage, as well as loss revenue for our small businesses who were forced to close,” Council Member Carmen De La Rosa said.
Congressmember Adriano Espaillat said, “I was here Sunday. I walked through this neighborhood. I saw what happened. And there were not enough police officers here.”