Unruly mob takes over Queens street for 'car meet-up,' beats couple, torches vehicle

A mob in Queens set a car ablaze and beat up a couple on Sunday night after residents tried to stop a car meet-up in their neighborhood, according to video footage and witnesses. The chaos came about after the mob was doing donuts in the street and driving over people’s property at around 12:30 am on South Drive and 141st Street in Malba.

New York City Councilwoman Vickie Paladino posted a video to X, writing, "Last night in Malba, a large group of individuals from outside my district conducted an illegal 'takeover' of a quiet residential street at approximately 12:30am. This is not the first time it's happened. A private security guard attempted to calm the situation -- he was assaulted by the mob and his vehicle was set on fire. He suffered significant injuries. A local resident was also assaulted. Response to this incident was less than ideal. Residents reporting the incident to 911 were told that 'quality of life team' and 311 should handle the situation. Unacceptable. In fact, these violent street takeovers should be met with maximum force by the police department."

"We have NEVER had these problems before. Now it's an epidemic. What changed? We stopped arresting criminals. I am meeting this morning with the chief of department and the local precinct at the scene to discuss exactly what happened last night. I have already been assured that Malba will receive four dedicated patrol cars from this point forward, as well as additional security upgrades that we cannot disclose. However, the city MUST do something to stop this lawlessness. All the speed cameras in the world do absolutely NOTHING to prevent these incidents -- we need police response and the most severe consequences for these criminals, not to simply allow them to drive away after they've completed their mayhem."

She added that incidents such as the one last night have been happening "citywide" and that there are "no longer any real consequences to this kind of criminality." There were also armed residents who were in the area, the councilwoman said. One resident who had a baseball bat in hand on his property was seen being beaten on the ground.

The video shows about a dozen or so people beating down on the man after one person took him out from behind. Blake Ferrer, the man who was beaten in the video, told the New York Post, “When I came out, I said, ‘Bro, you gotta get the f*ck off my property,' and that’s when it all started."

Ferrer came away from the beating with a broken nose and broken ribs, and his wife was also assaulted by people in the group.

Another resident tried to stop the chaos when he parked his car in the intersection, trying to stop them from doing donuts. “As soon as I did that, everyone started leaving,” Larry Rusch, 59, said of the situation. He owns his own security firm. “Then two individuals go up to the car. Somehow they threw some kind of firework or something and lit the car up. Then melee started again," he added.

“This is completely unacceptable, but this is the anarcho-tyranny of New York under progressive rule, where criminals operate with total impunity and law abiding citizens are scared to defend themselves. There is only so much more of this abuse people will take. I strongly suggest all law abiding citizens arm themselves and prepare to act in defense of their homes and family, because I highly doubt relief is coming with our new mayor,” Paladino said in her post.