‘It was like an invasion.’ Street takeover causes concern in Sheepshead Bay
Residents told News 12 on Tuesday that there is constant chaos, with cars revving engines, racing and chasing one another.
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Dozens of people and cars gathered for a street takeover at the corner of Knapp Street and Emmons Avenue in Sheepshead Bay, near the entrance to the Belt Parkway, according to videos obtained by News 12.
It happened shortly after 2 a.m. on Saturday.
“We woke up in the middle of the night,” said Lazar Faybusovich, of Sheepshead Bay.
“It was like an invasion,” said Mitch Borofsky, of Sheepshead Bay. “They were blocking the street from both sides over here, up filming on their cellphones, one or two cars going round.”
Videos also showed at least one person running across the scaffolding of the apartment building just to record their own videos.
“Never saw it like it was,” said Borofsky.
Residents told News 12 on Tuesday that there is constant chaos, with cars revving engines, racing and chasing one another.
“Almost every night around 11 [p.m.] or 12 [a.m.], but it's like a short five minutes,” said Leonid Sklyar, of Sheepshead Bay. “We also had one yesterday.”
It is part of the growing, nationwide trend of street takeovers.
“People want to rest at night,” said Sklyar. “Everybody has things to do in the morning.”
Councilmember Inna Vernikov, who represents the area as part of District 48, released a statement about the issue.
“The chaos on our streets is not happening in a vacuum. The policies and rhetoric of this and several previous mayoral administrations is what makes this type of street lawlessness possible.
Bad actors are not afraid of consequences because, unless very serious crimes are committed, there are not any. Today’s soft-on-crime environment emboldens perpetrators who bring crime to quiet residential neighborhoods, while cops remain handcuffed from taking serious action. I will continue to watch this issue closely and work with the 61st precinct to end the recklessness in our streets. I encourage every constituent to call 911 and report what they see to the police,” Vernikov wrote.
Vernikov also posted a video to Instagram with the caption, “Just this weekend, the 61st precinct made two arrests for drag racing at Knapp Street and Emmons Avenue. The perpetrators were not from our neighborhood.”
News 12 reached out to the NYPD for confirmation and more information, but they have not yet responded.
