Completely Foreseeable Riot as Cash Thrown at Public in Union Square

If there is no such thing as bad publicity, then we suppose yesterday's Cash Tomato promotion was a resounding success - if a melee as people tried to grab money works for you. The event, which involved giving away $29 to individuals in honor of Leap Year - wait, make that $29 attached to tomatoes, resulted in a Union Square riot with one person hospitalized and police and paramedics on the scene.

From the video, it seems that once someone discovered a whole bagful of $29 giveaways, an NFL-fumble-worthy pile-on erupted; and then things got out of hand. The promotion was supposed to be $29 distributed individually to pedestrians, but things degenerated when one of the company's employees panicked at the surge of people and dumped the cash in a garbage bag and quickly retreated. This almost makes the huge frozen-popsicle on a hot summer day Union Square promotion from Snapple look smart!

One winner-take-all teen attempted to make off with the entire bag of cash until the growing crowd intervened. The online sponsor of Friday's riot, Cash Tomato is an Internet video sharing site, although competitor YouTube seems to be reaping the benefits of the fiasco. A similar event was planned for San Francisco last week, but the SF police asked the event not take place in park.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Dave Hogarty in News on March 1, 2008 11:48 AM

Comments [rss]

Kevin Bracken

I saw some kids climb onto the rails of a LIRR train to retrieve $1.

I hope our upcoming pillow fight in Union Square is more, uh, civil!

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=8414464684

emilydickinson

@6: The city didn't sanction this. They didn't have a permit, so they had to stand on the sidewalk, and not in the park.

I love nothing more than some amateur PR wannabes getting a comeuppance at the hands of the NYC's wackjobs.

jaja007

The absolute best part of the story is that their site doesn't even work.

Epic fail indeed.

west side Michael

Should have been on Broadway & 28th street the

tomato guys might have been stabbed there for 29

bucks not just run off,what a neighborhood!

29 dollars goes a long way around there like

"Air Jordan" knockoffs.

Think2wice

Looked like every bum, wino, welfare queen, and tramp in the city showed up for this. And yes, of course, as well as those who are hard up and have some downtime while hanging out on 14th Street.

KatyG

Hey, edEx, don't bitch. Last week's stupid SF stunt was only a buck on each tomato. Cheap SOBs.

babyhitler

you see the filth that parades at union square? they'd probably riot for popsicle sticks.

JacqueMehoff

yes, $29 is a lot of money.

there would of been a riot if they've given out $1.

but Pb is still cheap.

Tgirl

the city should be thinking of ways to make Union Square (and all popular destination-neighborhoods) more civilized, and not sanction gimmicky promotional stunts like this.

TXinBklyn

"it's fucking $29 are people that desperate for something so little.?"

Times are hard dude.

jaja007

Why not just throw the tomatoes at the assclowns that crowd the stairs there?

ed_Extinct

it's fucking $29 are people that desperate for something so little.?

Jen Chung

Oh, you San Francisco-based properties - don't you understand that New Yorkers are insane when it comes to cash, even if it's attached to fruit? It's serious bloodsport.