Black-and-White Panda Clash Update

Free Williamsburg posted this photograph of some cops restraining someone during Saturday night's Pandamonium. There's also some video of the confrontation and one witness account that questions the force used by the NYPD, "Then a cop grabbed the guy with the boom box by the back of his arm and yanked him into the street, pushing him to the ground and making him [lose] grip of the stereo...The stereo fell, batteries flying everywhere, and when a few of his friends picked it up, a woman cop angrily lunged for the boom box and tried to further dismantle it!" And the folks behind the roving party are "looking 4 footage of arrests 2 help lawyers. Up the pandas f*ck the nypd!"

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

By Jen Chung in News on August 19, 2008 10:09 AM

Comments [rss]

Drumic

There was no reason for this. When my friend asked a Panda-wearing advocate "what is the reason for this?" the panda-clad answered..."It's Panda-monium". There were probably 50 so odd panda-bags in the middle of N7th and Bedford, not allowing traffic to go by, just sitting there, dancing, wasting all of our time. No protest, no nothing, just a reason to annoy the shit out of everyone.

WorksInDUMBO

I too find this confusing. What was their purpose? why were they dressed as pandas? were they protesting something? Selling something? Were they some kind of secret society? CAN SOMEONE EXPLAIN THE STUPID PANDAS TO ME ONCE AND FOR ALL????

pazzia

i'm actually confused by this story. is dressing up in a costume illegal? were there other reasons? why were the police even interested?

tsol

If only the NYPD treated every douchebag with a boombox the same way!

Tgirl

pathetic. losers.

virgil

Sounds like, for once, the commenters are in agreement that this is nothing but a clash of the titanic d-bags.

cwbuecheler

As is often the case with reports like this, I'm torn between my distaste for the NYPD's methods of crowd control, and my general feeling of contempt for grown people who feel the need to dress up like pandas and wander around disrupting traffic, making noise, and being a general nuisance.

neckbeard

i don't know what's worse.

the post-collegiate, psuedo-bohemian clowns who find dressing up in panda masks to be dangerous, rebellious,or even fun.

or the cops who find them to be a threat.

TJ

ha ha ha.

what a bunch of losers.

"lets all dress like pandas, roam the streets with impunity, and then cry bloody murder when the cops try to contain us."

zodak

this wasn't promoted as a demonstration & the more i hear about it the more i'm glad i wasn't anywhere near it.

Drumic

I'm sorry but this was the most pointless demonstration ever. Some arrest had to be made since this gathering caused tons of disturbance not to mention blocking traffic. People were also setting fire to trash cans and throwing newspaper containers into the middle of the st. I think this was just an excuse to try and get cops on video tape acting inappropriate. I do hate cops myself but when it comes to pointless acts of nothing I say the cops should have thrown all those hipsters in the box for the night and let their rich parents bail them out.