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The fiery Queens street meetup was unacceptable—and it can’t happen again

Let’s get something straight right away: What happened at 69th Street and Eliot Avenue last weekend was serious—not a case of kids blowing off steam, and not something to shrug off.

This was a coordinated mob that took over an intersection at 1:48 in the morning, lit fires, blocked streets and turned a quiet Queens neighborhood into something that felt closer to chaos than a city under control.

Hours later, my office was flooded with calls. Residents were scared, frustrated and furious. People couldn’t sleep. Families were watching it unfold from their windows, wondering how this is allowed to happen in their neighborhood.

And here’s the reality no one wants to say out loud: While this was happening in the 104th Precinct, there was another car meetup unfolding in the neighboring 110th.

Same night. Same problem. Not enough cops to go around.

The NYPD responded and they are making progress, including seizing vehicles tied to the incident, but they are being asked to do too much with too little.

We simply do not have enough police officers or patrol cars on the street, and every weekend........

© New York Post