Sneakergeddon
99-cent Adidas stunt turns ugly
It was a shoe-in for disaster. A marketing stunt by Adidas and Arizona iced tea that promised dirt-cheap limited-edition shoes descended into chaos Thursday morning on the Lower East Side — with one person carted away in an ambulance and two arrests — when sneakerheads rioted after learning they may not get their kicks fix.
Adidas and Arizona were selling a limited-edition crossover shoe — bearing the drink company’s branding — for just 99 cents, a move that attracted hundreds of rabid collectors to a two-day pop-up market at the Bowery and Rivington Street.
The first shoes hadn’t even been handed out when the disorder erupted a little before 9 a.m. Some people on line realized they probably wouldn’t get a pair of the 1,000 limited-run sneaks because so many fans had shown up — and they started getting angry.
“It was insane. Nobody got anything,” witness Lucas Crespo, 24, told The Post. “People got robbed, mobbed and pushed.”
At one point, someone lobbed a glass bottle, striking a girl in the face.
“She was covered with blood,” Crespo said. “She was there since 1 a.m., and she had to leave in an ambulance.”
The FDNY said it picked her up at 9:47 a.m. with non-critical injuries. Two people were arrested, and police eventually ordered everyone to leave.
One witness slammed the shoe and drink companies for overhyping the event.
“They like to create hype. They promote for days and weeks to create attention — knowing that New York is barbaric, people are going to step on each other,” fumed Ty Campbell, 31.
Adidas has canceled the pop-up planned for Friday.
Arizona reps did not respond to requests for comment, but the company tweeted an apology following the mayhem.
“Thanks, to our loyal fans that came out to support our partnership with Adidas,” the company wrote.
“Due to overwhelming demand and safety concerns, the NYPD shutdown our pop-up. We sincerely apologize to all our fans that waited in line.”