GREENWICH VILLAGE — A raucous YouTube video shows a bare-knuckled brawl in front of a Greenwich Village McDonald's that's been the site of past violence — including an October attack when a worker used a metal rod to protect himself from two female customers.
The video, purportedly shot on St. Patrick's Day from the inside of the West 3rd Street eatery, was uploaded Monday to YouTube.
The 42-second film, which first appeared on Gothamist, was shot through a glass window and shows one combatant launching a capoeira-style kick to another man's face.
The kicker and an ally are then seen hauling a man to the sidewalk while another man raced up to punch someone else near the store window.
The secondary brawl spun off into the street, prompting one of the men wrestling on the sidewalk to jump up to help his friend in the roadway scuffle.
"He’s gonna kill the guy," said an observer from inside the fast-food joint about the wrestling match. "Look, his eyes are popping out."
As the video ends, a man is seen racing from the street to attempt a flying tackle on another man. A woman inside McDonald's is heard shrieking, "Oh my God, I want to go home."
Tob Darun, the manager of Beyond Thai Kitchen, which is located across the street from the McDonald's, said he saw about four people fighting outside around 8 or 9 p.m. Saturday. People were grappling on the ground, he said, but he didn't notice any blood.
Darun said he frequently sees police officers on the sidewalk and their cars in the street near the corner of West 3rd Street and Sixth Avenue, but that police arrived on the scene after the fight ended Saturday.
"The fight was done and the police came too late," he said.
On Oct. 13, McDonald's worker Rayon McIntosh was caught on cell phone video — first published on DNAinfo — using a metal rod to beat two women who had jumped over the counter. McIntosh was initially charged with assault and weapons possession, but a grand jury cleared him after finding he had acted in self-defense.
The two women have since been indicted on burglary charges.
Last March, Damian Furtch, 26, suffered facial injuries in an apparent gay-bashing incident at the West Third Street McDonald's. Cops arrested a 21-year-old man for the attack, but he was not charged with a hate crime.
Despite the violence, the owner of the McDonald’s has refused to hire off-duty NYPD officers to keep the peace, according to McIntosh and police sources.
That doesn’t sit well with the ex-McDonald’s employee who says he is now making "way more" money driving a delivery truck.
"The owner has been putting this problem on the back burner like she doesn't notice. Every time there's a fight in that McDonald's, every time," McIntosh said.
"They need to do some crowd dispersal there. As soon as the clubs get out, everyone is in that McDonald's. They need more security there."
The most recent fight also brought ire from Community Board 2 chair Brad Hoylman.
"It's unacceptable that residents and visitors to the Village would feel unsafe as a result of these kind of incidents," Hoylman said.
"I also hope the perpetrators are found and brought to justice. I'm sure the 6th Precinct was stretched thin last weekend, but we need more police in our neighborhood to be able to respond quickly to this problem area."
The owner of the McDonald's franchise, Carmen Paulino, said, “My organization has had many conversations with the NYPD in an effort to make my restaurant more safe and welcoming for customers. We’ve had contract security personnel on-site Wednesday through Saturday since last summer.
"Considering this altercation took place outside of my restaurant, on public property, the restaurant manager called the police immediately."
The NYPD did not immediately comment.
A man who has worked as a parking garage attendant on West 3rd Street for the past 11 years but declined to give his name for fear of making enemies in the neighborhood said the McDonald's location has been a hot spot for trouble for as long as he can remember.
"You never know when a fight is going to break out here," he said.
The attendant said he sees police often but wants more frequent patrols.
"It's like when there are a lot of accidents at a corner where there's only a stop sign," he said. "A few people get killed, then they say, 'Oh man, this is a major problem,' then they finally put a light there."
William J. Gorta contributed reporting.
