New NYPD images show several ruffians allegedly involved in the fiery weekend car meetup in Queens over the weekend as locals in the normally “sleepy neighborhood” ripped the reckless stunt.
The lawless mob descended on the Eliot Avenue and 69th Street intersection along the Maspeth-Middle Village border around 1:50 a.m. Saturday, police said.
Police are hoping to track down the young-looking crew – one woman and seven men, three of whom are shown wearing keffiyehs.
The NYPD also released images of four cars involved in the senseless street showdown – two BMWs – silver and white, a black Nissan and another blue car.
Footage from the scene shows one brazen motorist apparently waving a Palestinian flag as he burned rubber – narrowly missing those standing around while the car made donuts around a ring of fire in the middle of the street.
Flames arose from the street as hordes of brazen participants filmed the dangerous stunt.
The NYPD said Monday that two men involved in the street chaos even jumped on the hood of a marked department vehicle, causing damage and cracking the windshield, before speeding off in the black Nissan.
Local resident Linda Pettorsson, 76, said he was frustrated with the reckless street free-for-all that even cops couldn’t break up.
“My whole beef with all of it is the cops come and they have kids jumping on the cop car and smashing the windows. Come on!” Pettorsson said. “It makes me feel unsafe that the cops don’t have a say in what they’re doing.”
“They have their hands tied, especially with the youth.”
She said she was surprised to see the Palestinian flag, but didn’t think the rowdy scene was anything close to a protest.
“It was just they can do it, so they’re doing it, for no other reason,” Pettorsson said. “This is just general, ‘I hate everybody.’”
Amy Wong, 48, said the chaos is “a bit of a shocker” in the otherwise “sleepy neighborhood.”
“[It really seems the police department needs more help or staffing,” Wong added. “I’ve lived my whole life here. Stuff like that doesn’t happen here.”
Another local, Gary P., 72, said the meet-ups are getting “out of hand.”
“It’s happening all over — Malba, Whitestone, here,” he said. “Something got to be done, but I don’t know what they’ve got to do.”
Anyone with information on the suspects is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/, on X @NYPDTips.