AMERICA BURNING Wild West Village
NYPD cops clashed with protesters in the West Village late Saturday as outdoor restaurant patrons and barflies nearby tried to enjoy a night out — chaos that ended with 12 people busted.
The skirmish erupted as demonstrators massed along a sidewalk and in a pedestrian median near West 10th and Hudson streets at around 9 p.m., facing off against dozens of cops, some on bikes and some in riot gear, video shows.
The protesters were miffed that the NYPD had pulled the plug on an earlier peaceful rally in Washington Square Park over noise complaints, according to the department and a demonstrator.
Cops played an audio recording warning protesters against blocking vehicular or pedestrian traffic.
A waiter at the nearby restaurant Cowgirl said the demonstrators were abiding by the decree.
“The cars were still moving. Traffic was not stopped,” said José Alberto Martinez, 37. “The police starting closing the streets, and so many started arriving in yellow vests.”
But the officers appeared to abruptly move on the noisy but peaceful group and began making arrests, according to witnesses and video footage.
“It was pretty calm, and suddenly they charged,” said Rebecca Fishbein, 31, a writer and editor who was walking in the area with friends when they witnessed the incident. “They arrested a few people, knocked into diners.” The chaos shocked onlookers. “What are you doing?” one person yells on video as officers knock over a restaurant’s stool in pursuit of a protester.
“They closed us in, and one very aggressive police officer, without a mask, was yelling at us, at clients and the protesters,” Martinez recalled. “He said, ‘You can’t be here,’ and I replied, ‘I’m working. What do you mean I can’t be here?’ ”
Added Fishbein, “Cops weren’t masked. My friend asked one cop why he wasn’t wearing a mask, and he said it had blood on it.”
The unrest began after cops shut down an art-based rally in nearby Washington Square Park, citing multiple noise complaints over a DJ spinning tunes.
About 150 protesters initially tried to march to the 6th Precinct station house on West 10th Street but were steered toward the intersection, the department said.
All told, four people were arrested, while another eight were issued summonses for disorderly conduct, authorities said.
Mayor de Blasio’s office did not respond to a request for comment.