There isn’t much anyone can do in NYC to defend themselves so I advise people to leave now. According to this DNA report the area of the incident – Christopher Street – has been the scene of escalating violence by teen mobs in recent weeks and police simply can’t stop it. It should be noted that the area is kind of the downtown’s gay quarter so this might be a case of teens targeting people they consider easy targets. On the other hand someone told me these were kids from Harvey Milk (a gay charter school) and I worked with a kid who went there a few years ago. She said some of the kids there were pretty violent.

From DNAinfo:

GREENWICH VILLAGE — Security video shows two dozen youths unleash a rampage in a Greenwich Village Dunkin’ Donuts, overturning tables and coffee machines and hurling chairs at staff in a furious attack.

The apparently unprovoked onslaught was caught on cameras in the 75 Christopher St. store.

“It was crazy. It was like (an) earthquake,” said employee M.B. Alam, 25, of the Bronx, who was working at the store on Monday last week.

Alam said the gang destroyed a table and a hot chocolate machine worth more than $2,000 — yet left the cash register untouched.

The chaos began just after 8 p.m. when the pack swept into the store and began terrorizing the staff, witnesses said.

The security footage viewed by DNAinfo shows one of the youths jumping up on the countertop while others hurl tables and chairs.

The rampage lasted about seven minutes. The video shows some of the youths grabbing drinks out of the refrigerated cooler and snatching pastries from the racks behind the counter before they fled.

One of the customers present at the time of the attack, Frank Shaffer, said he and his partner were at a table drinking coffee when the youths entered.

They sat at a table, then one of them slammed a chair against the floor. As the incident spiraled out of control, Shaffer called 911.

Residents have complained of a spree of criminal activity in the area recently. They have criticized the police response as tepid.

Robert Ziegler, owner and manager of the bar Boots and Saddle, which is located across the street from the Dunkin’ Donuts, said the number of incidents on the block is troubling.

“We’ve seen more and more violence every day,” he said, adding that his bar was the site of a similar attack a week prior to the Dunkin’ Donuts incident.

Ziegler said youths stormed into his bar last Monday, knocked over chairs, ripped items from the walls and pushed patrons. He said it took police from the 6th Precinct 45 minutes to arrive.

Felony assaults in that precinct are up almost 20%. Like I said, get out of New York. It’s the best decision me and the Mrs. ever made. Here’s a video of the attack. Disturbing: