CORONA — Late-night revelers partying at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park after dark were slapped with summonses during an early-morning raid over the weekend, police said.
Officers from the 110th Precinct entered the park at 1 a.m. and handed out 39 summonses on Sunday, May 31 after multiple complaints about loud music and partying, according to Deputy Inspector Christopher Manson.
The identities of those given summonses and the exact violations were not immediately available, but the typical type of summonses given out are for violating city rules against being in the park after dark, police said.
It's the latest enforcement at the borough's largest park after complaints from neighbors in surrounding communities about speeding drivers and partiers who take advantage of the park's thoroughfares, which are open 24 hours a day despite rules against entering the park after dark to allow access to nearby highways.
Manson said complaints about the park have been increasing since the weather has gotten better.
Earlier in the week the NYPD conducted another raid on the park and confiscated four motorcycles and a car from a group of drivers who were "drifting" — when a driver speeds up and oversteers their car, then lets their wheels spin out — in the park's lots, Manson said.
The parking lot and road next to Meadow Lake at the park have been used as a track for “drifting” for years, according to neighbors and police.
In August 2014, police gave out nearly 170 summonses during one weekend alone after busting up a massive "drifting" meetup.
In December, police arrested four men and impounded their cars after they were busted for drifting in a parking lot at Flushing Meadows.
Manson has said at public meetings he'd like the road that connects the Van Wyck Expressway and Grand Central Parkway through the park to be closed at night to prevent access once it closes.
The precinct's former commander, Deputy Inspector Ronald Leyson, had also tried to get the road closed.
The Parks Department did not respond to a request for comment.
