AriZona Iced Tea Sneaker Pop-Up Becomes 'Mini Fyre Festival'

NOLITA, NY — A pop-up for new Adidas' AriZona Iced Tea sneakers turned into a "mini Fyre Festival" Thursday morning when cops forced the chaotic event to close, witnesses and AriZona said.

Hundreds of sneaker lovers swarmed 208 Bowery St. for the "hype culture" moment — some lining up last night —for the limited edition sneakers up for grabs for just 99 cents.

It was like "a mini fyre festival," Jacqueline Kamel told Patch, referencing the disastrous influencer-backed island music festival that landed its 27-year-old CEO in prison for fraud. "All the hype and zero preparation."

"People standing for 10 hours were pissed," Kamel, who showed up with a friend at 9 a.m. and promptly threw in the towel when she saw the crowds, said by a Facebook message. "People had chairs. People were prepared for this. They kept screaming back at the cops, 'Instagram Hasn't said anything yet so we're staying.'"

Police said some 500 people were gathered at 208 Bowery, and additional cops were sent to manage the crowds gathered in a rainstorm for the sneaker release.

One guy started selling wristbands AriZona gave out for $400 a pop, said Kamel, of Prospect Lefferts Gardens.

One woman may have been hit in the face with a bottle, according to witnesses, but police were not able to confirm an assault.

Adidas sneaker and AriZona Iced Tea lovers alike slammed the pop-up for its lack of organization on social media.

Kenta Neary, of Harlem, got to the Bowery at 5:30 a.m. and saw people sitting on lawn chairs and towels, and about 7:30 a.m., the crowd rapidly transformed into a "mob 'line' with very little order."

"People were in the street, blocking apartments, and very disorderly," Neary told Patch by a Twitter DM. "It took everyone near me by total surprise, I was reading a book and the people near me were asleep. Out of nowhere I had to run with the crowd (some in the street) to which it became a big cluster of people stretching around the block."

Twitter user Stacey, @glitterlovegirl, said on Twitter she arrived at the pop-up 6 p.m. Wednesday and was told to leave by Adidas reps because of the monstrous rainstorms that blew through New York City overnight. She came back at 5 a.m. to find 200 people lined up.

"I was violently awakened and bulldozed at 8 a.m. by a mob of people rushing the streets," she said. "As I tried to leave I was wedged into a sea of people from the very back were pushing & shoving to the front of no where."

The pop-up is slated to hold another event Friday morning at 11 a.m.

Adidas Originals and AriZona Iced Tea released a statement Thursday afternoon announcing they had "permanently closed" the pop-up event on the Bowery.

"Both adidas and AriZona are grateful for those who came out and apologize for any inconvenience caused as a result of the shutdown. In an effort to prioritize the safety of fans and consumers, all parties made the decision to close the event with the support of local authorities," Adidas representative Andrés Paz Micheo said in a statement.

The footwear collaboration will be available to the public at a later time, the companies said.

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A post shared by AriZona Iced Tea (@drinkarizona) on Jul 15, 2019 at 1:04pm PDT