Cleanup continues in Union Square after Friday's chaotic Kai Cenat giveaway
NEW YORK -- Cleanup was underway Saturday in Union Square after a mob got out of hand Friday afternoon, and the internet influencer who police say incited the chaos has now been charged.
Saturday afternoon, people shopped at Union Square Market. As always, Andrew Cote was selling his honey.
"I feel OK being out here. We've got the best police force in the world," he said.
Not far from his stand, next to trampled flowers, crews cleaned the subway structure and power-washed paint off the sidewalk -- some of the damage left by a mob Friday afternoon.
"Young people, and it was crazy," one person said.
Hours after the chaos stopped, police say social media influencer Kai Cenat was led out of a police precinct by his personal security.
- Read more: Who is Kai Cenat?
Investigators say it was his post for a gaming system giveaway that prompted a large crowd in Union Square, and things got out of hand, leaving dozens injured.
"Subway was full of people. Everywhere, it was full of people," a witness said.
People were climbing on the subway structures, cars and restaurant structures and lighting fireworks.
The NYPD arrested dozens.
"A lot of anxiety. A lot anxiety. Very on edge," said one woman who lives nearby.
She says it took her back to the riots of 2020.
"The unpredictably of last night brought me back to that space from a couple of years ago," she said.
- Read more: NYPD officers "attacked, crushed, pushed" during chaotic Union Square giveaway, officials say
Friday, the mayor called the riot a parenting issue.
"The first thing I did was text my son and say, 'Where are you? Are you in Union Square?' ... How many parents text their children? And, you know, that old commercial that says, '10 p.m., do you know where your children are?'" Mayor Eric Adams said.
Now, as most are feeling the normalcy, they are asking why did it have to come to this?
"It just seems strange that for something that small, that many people would come," said Linda, who lives in the area.
Police say Cenat has been charged with two counts of incitement to riot and unlawful assembly.