"Near Riot": NYPD Shuts Down Drake's Seaport Concert

Before Canadian rapper Drake could even perform at a free concert at the South Street Seaport tonight, the NYPD shut down the event because of an unruly crowd. According to MyFoxNY, the "evening ended with chairs being thrown into the crowd, mace being sprayed, and reports of table being tossed from a second floor balcony." Also: Stampeding, pushing, shoving, throwing plants, and breaking the mixing board (according to Hanson, who was also on the bill!).

The concert was put together by Paper Magazine, and 10,000 people were expected...but estimates say 25,000 people showed up—fans had started gathering at 3 p.m. for the 6 p.m. show. A South Street Seaport spokesman, John Reilly, said, "While the South Street Seaport and Paper Magazine were looking forward to a great kick-off concert for the summer season, our primary concern is always the safety of our guests. Unfortunately, by the announced showtime, both the Seaport management and NYPD estimated that the onsite crowd had greatly exceeded this safe capacity, was still rising, and the show could no longer be presented in a safe atmosphere."

According to Sound of the City, "the primary theater of battle" was the "northern side of the Seaport, where fans standing on the balcony in front of shops and restaurants began raining bottles down on the crowd below, who promptly returned fire."

As things escalated, the bottles turned from plastic to glass. Then, at the peak of the fight, kids on the upper level began tossing steel chairs off the balcony. That was when people really started to run. It was also about at that moment that the police finally broke through the crowd and stormed the second level, where they too were momentarily pelted with bottles. We watched a few kids on the deck attempt to shove or otherwise assault the cops who were trying desperately to clear them out. In turn, more than one officer took out her baton, though the police had the situation in hand relatively quickly.

After that, it was mostly crowd dispersal, and stray fights. Helicopters buzzed overhead. Standing across from the Seaport, we watched hundreds of kids suddenly went scrambling away from the stage area in terror. We asked one why he was running. "Mace," he said.

Through a spokesperson, Drake told the Daily News, "I am humbled by the crowd that showed up in support of my performance. Unfortunately, the show was canceled by the NYPD due to overcrowding, leaving me without the chance to give my fans a real show." In fact, Brooklyn Vegan says that the only live music the crowd heard was Hanson's sound check and less than one song from Ninjasonik. Here are some videos of the scene:

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

By Jen Chung in News on June 15, 2010 11:36 PM

Comments [rss]

nutraslim

Wow. That's a trip.
Poor Drake :(

Cannibal

Where's Freddynyc aka Mengle with a racist remark? Oh probably got deleted already.

ur doing it rong

OMG RACIST EVERYONES RACIST. ugh

k8nice

I saw Sugar Hill gang at this same venue and there were no problems what so ever. I just hope this does not prevent concerts from happening there in the future.

dogbraincatscan

all this for a canadian kid who got shot and spent the latter part of his teens wheelchair-bound?

Kim Bong Ill

I was down there. It looked like they were holding a free crack giveaway.

macdaddynyc

I rode my bike past the Sea Port yesterday (6/15) around 7:15ish and it was a mad house. All this talk of black and white, and what kinds of show which brings certain kinds of people is all bullshit. That crowd was black, white, latino, asian, etc... The one true commonality was they were all young.

Angelheaded Hipster

nice. its strange when an incisive, intelligent comment is posted here, it stands out---ha

Clarice City

Bread and circuses.

onefjef

I blame Hanson.

Angelheaded Hipster

drake and hanson? even if you were there behaving yourself, you're still a criminal

Ed

I blame All the Drake fans on the second floor by Pizzeria Uno. Arrests need to be made for the two assholes that through the chair and table from the balcony! These guys are in almost all the videos I've seen posted to the internet. No self respecting Hanson fan will act like that. For shame Drake fans, for shame... Next time handle yourselves better.

brooklynmouthoff

These people are wild animals and belong in cages.

FelixtheCat & Christine Quinn'

Wild animals DON'T belong in jail and HUMANS are so not SUPERIOR

nyorker555

no one said anything racist at the beginning of the thread. It is the folks saying "racist" who seem to think the word "rap concert" = "black concert."

That reveals more about the folks using the word racist than anything else.

seven

OHH!! Now I know where I've seen this dude. He's the guy from that ridiculous Sprite commercial. That many people showed up to see that loser? And Hanson? Wow, kids must be REALLY bored these days.

Potty Boy

This is why we're fractured. Folks, we have to own this behavior, ok? When bad things happen, stop pointing fingers. Stop blaming "them". It's "us". It's all "us". These are events that test our racial lines and whatever other invisible lines that magically divide our society. A lot of people will profess to want a race-neutral nation. Ok, well, why don't you start now?

poxod

+1

BDS=(Boycott.Divest.Sanction)

I'm with you Potty.

Thats america right there. those are our kids. if they aint acting right its a problem for all of us. we've got start acting like what we are, one community.