NYC Mayor Eric Adams Says ‘Youth Crime’ is a ‘Parenting Issue’ Following Riot In Union Square Park

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has cited parenting issues as a cause behind last Friday’s Union Square Park riot.

Last week, Twitch streamer and YouTuber Kai Cenat decided to do an impromptu meet and greet with fans in the park, offering free PS5’s to those who attended. Shortly after Cenat announced to his 5.5 million Instagram followers that he was on his way to the Union Square, all hell broke loose.

Thousands descended on that area of NYC, which quickly sent the NYPD into panic mode. They put a bulletin out for all the available officers in the city to come help with crowd control.

The crowd blocked major streets, began jumping and climbing on top of vehicles, and started hurling objects into the air, hitting both others in the crowd and police officers.

Police acted quickly to change into riot gear and attempted to disperse the crowd with pepper spray. Many arrests were made, including Cenat himself who was charged with inciting a riot.

On Saturday, Mayor Adams was asked about the chaos during a press conference where the city announced charges for a 17 year old who stabbed and murdered a man at a Brooklyn gas station in July. A reporter asked the Mayor his thoughts on the accused murderer being so young.

“Because what you are seeing that is happening to youth in this country and in general, but specifically here in New York City, is something that we should all be alarmed about. We saw it yesterday down at Union Square. This is not a policing issue. This is a parenting issue,” Adams declared.

“We need to be clear on that. Police is the response after an incident happened. But there should be a proactive approach. When I looked at what happened in Union Square, the first thing I did was text my son and say, ‘Where are you? Are you in Union Square?’ And I wonder, with the thousands of children who were there hurling dangerous objects at police officers, disrespecting the residents in the area, attacking each other? How many how many parents texted their children?” Adams said.

Adams was later asked about advice he would give to parents.

“It’s difficult being a parent now with so much weight and so many obligations they are facing… Our children cannot be raised by social media. Our children cannot get their values, their beliefs from social media and other outside entities… Our children are being inundated by influencers, by those who consider themselves to be credible messengers,” Adams said.

The mayor event suggested that the riot in Union Square Park was escalated by outside influence.

“We’re further looking into whether there are some even outside agitators. You don’t come to get free Gameboys and bring smoke bombs and bring M-80’s and bring other disruptive items. So we believe there were some outside influences that may have attempted to aggravate this situation,” Adams said.

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