Pandamonium Rocks Williamsburg, New York

by temporarily east coast agent

On Saturday, August 16, after weeks of planning, the raucous street party, Pandamonium, took place. Billed as a “Costumed+Roving+Street+Party” and “Apocalyptic+Dance+Rock+Battle,” the panda party supplied free beer and homemade panda masks, and also deployed a mobile pirate radio station, accompanied by a dozen boom boxes. Participants gathered at Union Square in Manhattan at 8:30, but the actual location of the party was unannounced to give us the element of surprise. After amassing more than 250 people, Pandamonium's sound system was put into action, and the party set off into the bowels of the New York subway system towards its true destination.

We debarked at the Bedford L stop in Brooklyn, towards free beer and the throngs of Williamsburg, the hipster capital of New York. Secret agent pandas had covertly blocked off traffic from N7th and others had strategically placed massive crates of beer for the other partygoers. Chants of "Panda! Panda! Panda!" could be heard from blocks away as the pandas were finally able to quench their thirst with free beer. Four hundred beers rapidly disappeared and the main intersection of Bedford Ave. was occupied. Newspaper boxes, trash cans, and barricades were moved into the street to help us hold the space.

Unfortunately a police captain showed up within five minutes, and was quickly reinforced by a mobile command unit and dozens of police. We’re unsure how they arrived so quickly; we suspect they were tipped off. The police captain claimed that the siren on their command unit was an ambulance and that we were blocking it and probably killing someone. Luckily we are astute enough to distinguish between different types of automobiles.

The captain ordered the arrest of two pandas, one who was biking the main sound system and another who was using a megaphone and holding the intersection. Another person was almost arrested, but the police changed their minds and simply detained him. The pandas, undeterred, surrounded the police cars and debris was thrown at the cops and their cars. The party then set off westward, where sparklers were deployed and boom boxes kept the party alive. By this time an NYPD helicopter was brought out to monitor the party. A passerby asked one panda, "Do you play Grand Theft Auto? In the game they bring out the chopper when you commit enough crimes." He was of course stating this in the positive sense!

The party then wound its way around the neighborhood. On the way to the endpoint, a high-traffic street was completely cut off for two blocks with dozens of barricades that pandas had dragged into the street from the construction sites of condos. This significantly slowed the police’s advance and cut off their command unit. Pandamonium’s intended endpoint included video projections of pandas, random video clips, and abstract imagery. However, the police didn’t want us to stop; their megaphones angrily announced, "everyone is going home," as the police helicopter gave us an unofficial light show. Unfortunately for them, Pandamonium was far from over.

Pandas deceptively took to the sidewalks, reassuring the police that everything was under control. Once back on Bedford, however, the streets were retaken, and the party began again. After a few turns on the side streets, Bedford was taken again at the corner of N6th, much to the police's chagrin. The crowd was pushed out of the street and on to the corners. Leaflets were handed out explaining the motivation behind the panda party. Meanwhile two other arrests were made with several police violently attacking pandas. The party then carried on for a little while longer, playing cat and mouse with police and disrupting the shopping strip. Around midnight the party disbanded and the pandas went their separate ways.

Pandamonium was conceived as a way of creating a situation that disrupts the normal routine of Saturday night consumption. It was also created as a contestation of space as controlled by the police and commerce, an extremely difficult task in New York. We supplied Pandamonium with a pleasing aesthetic and hoped that the content of the party would be able readily apparent to participants. Openly drinking alcohol, occupying city streets, and playing cat and mouse with the police in an attempt to have fun were all obviously frowned upon by the police. We were pleasantly surprised by the number of people who spontaneously joined in the festivities, helping shout down the police and drag barricades into the street. It was, however, a bit disconcerting to be surrounded by hundreds of other people whose interaction with the party was documenting it with their cell phone’s camera. While some people were irked because Pandamonium interrupted their barhopping plans, the feeling during and after the party was very energetic as this was one of the most successful street actions in recent years. Also as some participants said, they’d never done anything like that before in their entire lives. Pandas hope to take the momentum from this party and mover forward in a strategic manner.

Checkout our blog and myspace:

http://pandamoniumnyc.wordpress.com
http://www.myspace.com/pandamoniumnyc

Blogs and Newstories:

http://neithermorenorless.blogspot.com/2008/08/pandamonium-in-union-square-park.html
http://gothamist.com/2008/08/17/police_unhappy_with_pandamonium_in.php
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/archives/2008/08/_last_week_the.php
http://freewilliamsburg.com/archives/2008/08/pandamonium_on.html