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<\/a>A HIVE OF customers swarm the H&M at the new Bay Plaza Mall in Co-Op City. Doors opened August 14, 2014.\u00a0File Photo<\/p>\n
Eighteen people were taken into custody on Monday, Feb. 16, police said, after around one hundred teens participated seemingly in an organized \u201ctakeover\u201d of The Mall at Bay Plaza in the Baychester section of The Bronx after school. When contacted for details of the charges \/ summonses, if any, the NYPD said that is still being worked out. Norwood News will share more information as it becomes available. In videos shared on social media by different users, some teens are seen on the ground outside The Mall being cuffed by police, while in others, a swarm of cops are seen flooding the area.<\/p>\n
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In other videos, the teens, many dressed in dark clothing and hoodies, are seen storming The Mall and inside what looks like a McDonalds, some are seen jumping on tables and generally running wild. In another video, they are seen throwing chairs inside a restaurant and in another, one is seen outside The Mall throwing a shopping cart against a glass door.<\/p>\n
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In yet another\u00a0video clip<\/a>, seemingly of the aftermath of the incident, a window or possibly a glass door of a business in seen shattered and staff are seen inside the business, possibly a McDonalds, wiping down tables and cleaning up, at that point, an empty business. In another, teens are seen running after a group of other teens, shouting, holding up their phones, and filming one youngster who appears to be on the ground getting trampled on. It\u2019s unclear if the person fell or if it was a fight or something else. In another video, teens are seen seemingly trying to enter a store as an apparent store employee attempts to close it.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n In accompanying text included across one of the videos shared online, the seemingly organized takeover was described as a \u201csuccess\u201d by the account user. In other videos, it was mentioned that several teens were arrested. A flier that had reportedly been circulating online prior to the event according to some shared videos reads, \u201cBay Plaza Take Over, Monday, Starts at 2:00 Ends until we get kicked out. DM for more info.\u201d The origin of the flier is unclear. In other videos posted online, the commotion appeared to spill over inside an MTA bus as some of the teens made their way home.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Snippets from at least some of the videos were shared on some drill rap-related user accounts on social media possibly with the aim of gaining more followers. In a separate post on one of the drill-rap related accounts, the account user appears to appreciate that during a Coney Island press conference held the same day as the takeover i.e. Feb. 16, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani recalled listening to drill rap artist, Pop Smoke, in prior years while enjoying the amusement rides.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cNYC MAYOR IS A FAN OF NYC DRILL\ud83d\ude2d\ud83d\udd25\u203c\ufe0f RIP POP SMOKE\u2026 nahhh chat I\u2019m starting to fw our new mayor heavy now\ud83d\ude02\ud83d\ude02\ud83d\ude02\u201d the quote read in part while tagging both the mayor and other drill rap groups.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The mayor was in Coney Island announcing the creation of a new Business Improvement District (BID) for the area, and while standing in front of the amusement park, he said in part, \u201cI love roller coasters. I was on the Phoenix [ride] like four months ago. I\u2019m a big fan of Coney Island, big fan of roller coasters\u2026 also, a big fan of the bumper cars that you can go on, just not too far from the boardwalk.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n He added, \u201cMany a memory listening to\u00a0Pop\u00a0Smoke\u00a0while being in those bumper cars. I would say 10 out of 10 recommend Cyclone [another ride], also incredible. All of these things around me are great. Slingshot [ride] is a little too much for me.\u201d\u00a0Norwood News\u00a0has reached out to the mayor\u2019s office for a comment on the Bay Plaza incident and will share any feedback we receive.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Meanwhile, a young, female, Black TikTok user who has over 36,000 followers and 4.3 million likes on her account, took to social media late on Monday night to berate those who participated in the apparent takeover. Her video heading read, \u201cBay Plaza Takeover is Sherm & if you\u2019re going, you\u2019re embarrassing.\u201d It was followed by several crying emojis.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n According to Google, Sherm is a slang word that can be used as a derogatory term for a \u201cdegenerate\u201d or someone not worthy of respect, or it can refer to a marijuana cigarette or tobacco cigarette dipped in liquid PCP (phencyclidine) or sometimes embalming fluid, a potent, dangerous street drug known to cause severe hallucinations and violent behavior. The term originates from Nat Sherman cigarettes.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The young woman said in part in her accompanying video, \u201cWhy don\u2019t we have sh*t in The Bronx? This is why, Bro! This is now the second time that y\u2019all have done this sh*t! Are y\u2019all aware that there\u2019s a reason that that is one of the only malls we have in The Bronx? Are y\u2019all aware that there\u2019s nothing to do here for a reason?\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Seemingly exasperated, the young woman continued, \u201cY\u2019all wonder why people say \u2018Oh the [inaudible \/ Sky zone?] isn\u2019t going to last long.\u2019 This is why! Why\u2019s there no places for kids to hang out? This is why! People don\u2019t want to run afterschool programs and places for kids because y\u2019all act like this, Bro, for no reason. Y\u2019all play exactly into the stereotype and it\u2019s sad, Bro! A bunch of Black and brown kids going to raid the f*cking mall\u2026 that\u2019s embarrassing as f*ck! Where are y\u2019all parents, Bro? Y\u2019all parents need to get in trouble for this, I\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n She continued, \u201cThese kids nowadays got a mind of their own but nah, their parents need to start getting in trouble for this sh*t so they can really start to crack down on these motherf*ckers. Y\u2019all are sherm! You are as childish as f*ck! If you\u2019re going to go raid that mall, you are childish. Nobody with any common sense or even the smallest bit of smarts is going to go do that. Y\u2019all broke through the movie theater last year. Y\u2019all robbed stores. Y\u2019all broke store windows, all of that. What do you guys gain out of that? Talkin\u2019 about there\u2019s not sh*t for kids in New York. Guess why? Y\u2019all are ghetto and f*cking untamed.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The teen added, \u201cY\u2019all\u2019s parents did not raise y\u2019all right. I\u2019m only 18 years old, Bro, and I\u2019m seeing people who are 17, 16 doing this sh*t! I\u2019m scared for y\u2019all! Y\u2019all\u2019s futures are genuinely cooked, Bro! Your future is genuinely cooked if you think this sh*t is swag.\u201d The user went on to suggest that the parents of the affected kids needed to enforce more discipline at home. \u201cYou 15, 16 years old doing sh*t like this? Yeah, no! You clearly not going to learn. You clearly too far gone. I would\u2019ve thrown your asses out the frame,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The user continued, \u201cThis sh*t is sad, Bro. Hear y\u2019all go givin\u2019 \u2019em more shit to say about Hispanic and Black people. This is why we\u2019ll never win. Certain people from our communities just do dumb sh*t. I hope the police come and just start charging everyone. I hope every single police force in the f*cking New York f*cking State goes to that mall and cuffs everyone, every single last one of y\u2019all b*tches, and put every single one of y\u2019all asses in jail no matter how old\u2026jail, probation, f*cking JuV all o\u2019 that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n She added, \u201cI\u2019m sick of y\u2019all. I really, really, really am because, Bro, what\u2019s the point of this? What do y\u2019all gain from this?\u201d The user continued saying that last year, when the movie theater was broken into, one possibility discussed afterwards by officials was to have minors carry IDs and also have them accompanied by an adult to get into the mall. \u201cOnce ya\u2019ll do this now, ya\u2019ll think they\u2019re NOT gonna make this sh*t happen? C\u2019mon! Now, y\u2019all little kids really not gonna have nowhere to f*ckin\u2019 go!\u201d Her post had garnered nearly half a million views as of Monday night.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Also on Monday, the New York Daily News reported<\/a>\u00a0that the NYPD\/FDNY rescued a 16-year-old boy who was trapped 50 feet down a shaft on the NYC Queensboro bridge, following a TikTok stunt the same day.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n As reported<\/a>, Suave Drilly, a drill rap artist from the Norwood area of the Bronx, was shot dead in the South Bronx last year. Norwood News\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0in April 2022 that Suave Drilly, then 23, was in custody and awaiting arraignment as one of 20 alleged G-Side \/ Drilly gang members in the Norwood \/ Gun Hill area. According to the Bronx District Attorney\u2019s office, 20 gang members were arrested on various charges, including murder, non-fatal shootings, and stabbings.<\/p>\n In August 2024, we had also\u00a0reported<\/a> how \u201cSlaughtery\u201d gang members had been separately charged with 14 shootings, the slashing of a rival in a courthouse, and how they bragged online about it. The gang is also influenced by drill rap. As\u00a0reported<\/a>,\u00a0drill rap<\/a>\u00a0is a sub-genre of rap music that emerged in the last 10 years. It addresses gang and street life and often glorifies misogyny and violence.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n In February 2022, former New York City Mayor Eric Adams said he had met with a group of Drill rappers and later explained to the media how the meeting went. \u201cThey said, \u2018We heard you were going to ban Drill rapping,\u2019 and I did not say that,\u201d said Adams. \u201cNo, I was very clear on what I stated and they came in with a lot of energy. You know, here\u2019s the 62-year-old guy that don\u2019t understand young people and you want to destroy\u2026. and I let them talk. Then I told them what I said, that violent people who are using Drill rapping to post who they killed, and then antagonize the people who they are going to kill is what the problem is.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Adams had added, \u201cAnd they heard me, and we\u2019re going to be rolling out something in the next few days to deal with this issue. It was a great conversation. I was happy to have them there.\u201d For more on the former mayor\u2019s comments, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Norwood News\u00a0has reached out to McDonalds and to the management of The Mall at Bay Plaza for comment and will share any feedback we receive.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>NEW YORK CITY Mayor Zohran Mamdani address those gathered at Coney Island\u2019s Amusement Park for the launch of a new Coney Island Business Improvement District (BID) on Monday, Feb. 16, 2026.\u00a0\u00a0
Screenshot courtesy of the Mayor\u2019s office<\/p>\n