{"id":136599,"date":"2026-02-17T21:28:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T21:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/136599\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T21:28:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T21:28:08","slug":"nyc-mall-on-edge-after-social-media-crazed-teen-mob-tears-up-stores-tangles-with-cops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/136599\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC mall on edge after social media-crazed teen mob tears up stores, tangles with cops"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cops hit 18 teens with rioting charges after a massive baby-faced mob trashed a Bronx shopping mall <\/a>on Monday \u2014 as merchants and security guards braced for the out-of-control punks to return. <\/p>\n

\u201cI worry they\u2019re coming back today,\u201d Camila Suarez, a hostess at the Noches de Colombia Restaurant at the Mall at Bay Plaza in Baychester, told The Post Tuesday. \u201cI\u2019m worried they will mess up my stand again. They have the day off today. They said they were coming back today.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were 200,\u201d said Suarez. \u201cWe ran and closed the doors, we locked the doors. All the customers stayed inside. Last winter it happened right around the same time. I think it will happen today. It\u2019s because the kids have nothing to do. They are on break. They have a lot of time to do nothing.<\/p>\n

A mob of as many as 200 teens stormed the Mall at Bay Plaza in the Bronx Monday, leading to 18 arrests. X\/@Natanaelny1974<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, we are scared,\u201d she said. \u201cThe manager is here today and he\u2019s a big man.\u201d<\/p>\n

As many as 200 wilding teens swarmed the shopping center on Monday, when schools were closed for President\u2019s Day, and trashed the place, hurling chairs, grabbing merchandise and knocking over displays.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey use my mannequins to punch,\u201d said Khan Arif, who owns the Custom Trendz t-shirt kiosk. \u201cThey break it off the base. They hit here again and again. They mess up my doll. They punched it here. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey will again,\u201d he added. \u201cI think they come back today. They did last time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Merchants at Bay Plaza mall said they feared the marauding teens would return on Tuesday. WABC<\/p>\n

Merchants said Monday\u2019s assault mirrored a similar one last year. <\/p>\n

This year, police said 18 teens as young as 13 years old were cited for unlawful assembly and rioting, with only one, 19-year-old Victor Martin, old enough to be identified by cops. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStart your day with all you need to know\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMorning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The younger teens were charged as juveniles and released to their parents, police said. <\/p>\n

On Tuesday, at least a dozen NYPD cops patrolled the mall, while security guards remained vigilant and gated several entrances shut in case the mob made a return appearance. <\/p>\n

NYPD and mall security were braced for a possible return of the teens to Bay Plaza mall. X\/@Natanaelny1974<\/p>\n

\u201cThey planned on TikTok to come and raid the mall, same as last year,\u201d said mall worker Jamie Arias, who works the Hemp City kiosk. \u201cThey went up to the third floor and were throwing chairs. They tried to open my cabinets, but they stay locked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI suspect they might come back,\u201d Arias added. <\/p>\n

As of mid-afternoon, the marauding teens had not resurfaced.<\/p>\n

Opened in 2014, the Bay Plaza mall has 150 retail stores and food spots. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cops hit 18 teens with rioting charges after a massive baby-faced mob trashed a Bronx shopping mall on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":136600,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[3283,128,37882,57,9,24,63,103,34034,4730,129,131,130,58],"class_list":{"0":"post-136599","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-the-bronx","8":"tag-arrests","9":"tag-bronx","10":"tag-mad-brawls","11":"tag-metro","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-city","14":"tag-nyc","15":"tag-nypd","16":"tag-shopping-malls","17":"tag-teens","18":"tag-the-bronx","19":"tag-the-bronx-headlines","20":"tag-the-bronx-news","21":"tag-us-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136599\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}