NYPD arrests dozens after gang runs amok in Times Square, Herald Square

[Lucinda F. Boyd]

The latest outbreak of midtown mayhem - which the mayor Monday declared an episode of "wilding" - resurrected memories of the "bad old days of the 1970s."

Fifty-six youths were arrested or given summonses after hundreds of thugs rampaged through Times Square and Herald Square on Easter Sunday night.

Four people - a man and a woman in Times Square and two women outside Macy's - were shot in what cops say is becoming an annual tradition.

"It came out of nowhere. I just saw people running and I got hit," said Keanu Griffin, 18, a senior at Aspiration High in Brooklyn, who was shot in the thigh.

She said she and five friends were heading to the subway after eating at T.G.I. Friday's when they were engulfed by the melee.

Her dad, Dennis Griffin, 42, said more should have been done to protect pedestrians.

"If it's a regular routine on Easter, they should have had enough cops up there to stop whatever it is going on," he said Monday.

"She just got hurt from going to have a good time. On 42nd St. On Easter!"

None of the injuries was life-threatening. The three women were believed to be bystanders, police sources said.

"This city is going to hell. People shouldn't have to worry about being shot, especially in midtown," said a fuming Tena Hemingway, 23, of Brooklyn, whose 19-year-old sister, Iasia Manson, was shot in the elbow on 34th St.

A witness to the Herald Square gunplay, who did not want to give his name, called the scene "pretty crazy."

"It was like 'pop,' real loud - then silence. Then another 'Pop, pop, pop, pop.' Everyone started running down the street, screaming, 'They're shooting, they're shooting!'"

Cops shut down some of the city's most famous streets in Monday's wee hours and climbed into the iconic Macy's awning, looking for stashed weapons.

Easter night has brought violent clashes to the Times Square area since 2003, terrifying tourists, pedestrians and business owners. In 2006, three people were stabbed. Last year, there were 27 arrests.

Sunday's gunfire upped the ante, and the specter of marauding hooligans running amok in midtown brought back memories of Times Square in seamier, scarier times.

Mayor Bloomberg called it "a bunch of gang members wilding" and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer warned budget cuts would lead to "reliving the bad old days of the 1970s."

"There's a bunch of people that think it's cute to go out and to run around and to cause chaos," Bloomberg said. "We're not going to stand for it."

Several police sources said many of the youths had attended the annual car show at the Jacob Javits Center before heading for the Crossroads of the World to look for trouble.

It was not clear that the violence was closely tied to gangs: only two of the 33 youths arrested were in a gang database, cops said.

The NYPD had beefed up patrols in anticipation of a rumble, putting more than 100 cops in the area, including at least a dozen on horseback.

"We anticipated there'd be some problems," said NYPD spokesman Paul Browne, who said the number of arrests proves the preparation was adequate.

Police sources said cops were taken aback at first by the large numbers of hoodlums that took over the streets.

"Everyone is wondering why more wasn't done beforehand in terms of preparation," said one cop source..