Tuesday’s video attack on innocent drivers in Manhattan by a gang of young bicycle hoods was absolutely horrible, but too typical of the kind of chaos and illegality that ravaged the city.
The brazen assault took place not in the wee hours of the night, but at four-thirty in the afternoon, and struck downtown Manhattan, Fifth Avenue, and 21st Street.
While Max Torgovnick and his mother, who is about 70 years old, were driving innocently, a pack of more than a dozen young cyclists suddenly got on their BMW, surrounded the car and hit it.
One smashed a bicycle over it. Another turn on the hood, then he threw himself on the windshield until he partially gave in.
And that attack came shortly after the punks headed for another vehicle, a yellow cab, which swarmed him and subsequently injured the driver by throwing him a bicycle.
Law enforcement sources reported Wednesday about 25 bikers, six of whom damaged Torgovnick’s car. A 15-year-old man was arrested in connection with the BMW attack.
“It was an animalistic attack in broad daylight,” a Manhattan police officer stormed. “It shows how much the city has deteriorated and politicians better get their heads out of the sand and start tackling these issues before there’s anything left.”
He is right. Murders have increased by 40% this year and shots have doubled. Homelessness, vandalism and mental illness have become commonplace on the streets. Now you can’t even drive down the street in the middle of the day without wondering if it will be next.
There is a growing fear that the city will lose control and, increasingly, this fear is proving justified.