New York Daily News

Cops hunt group of teens who trashed eatery

- BY THOMAS TRACY AND LEONARD GREENE

Outrage is on the menu at a Queens Chinese restaurant where a rowdy group of masked and hooded teenagers ransacked a dining hall, flipping tables and chairs while horrified workers looked on.

Damages at Fish Village in College Point included a large broken window that was shattered

Saturday night when the marauders stormed the business and began trashing the place without any warning.

Viral video shows the group upending tables and sending plates flying while patrons were eating.

“From the time they entered to the time they left, it only took a minute,” restaurant manager Tony Hu told WCBS-TV. “They didn’t say a word. We have no idea what was happening.”

Hu said he had no idea what motivated the throng.

“I was behind the register and was in shock,” he told the station. “Then I ran to call 911, but by the time I got through, they were already gone.”

Hu said the stunt caused more than $20,000 in damages.

“This is a big financial loss,” he lamented. “Especially our reputation to future customers. Nobody wants to go to a place where things like this happen.”

Local leaders voiced outrage over the incident.

“As a community, we need to make sure this type of hate crime does not happen in our neighborho­ods anymore,” Tony Avella, a former City Council member, said on a GoFundMe launched to raise money to help the restaurant rebuild.

“We want New York City to be a better and safer place for everyone to live.”

Cops said the NYPD is still looking for suspects. It is not clear if the vandalism is being investigat­ed as a hate crime.

About 30 customers were in the restaurant when the violence broke out. Officials said there were no injuries.

The incident happened days before Mayor Adams suggested customers remove masks prior to entering stores, to help video surveillan­ce identifica­tion.

The suggestion came after a masked gunman killed a Manhattan bodega worker last week.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States