Bees swarm store in NYC

UNION SQUARE (WABC) -- Part of New York City became an "urban jungle" -- as a swarm of bees descended on the busy Union Square Park area. The bees seemed to have their stingers set on one business at 107 East 14th Street.

"When I got here, there was already like a thousand bees in there...then they came out...there were more...they were like -- in a pack," said bee watcher Jay Lorenzo.

Thousands of bees -- in a hive -- in a building between 4th Avenue and Irving Place -- and it was no joke to the employees here at GameStop. They were trapped inside their store. The sign in the window said, "temporarily closed, due to bee infestation."

"There's a hive...inside the walls...leading upward...they say somebody's on the way, but they're taking a long time to get here," bee watcher Herman Leath said.

In fact, it took two hours to get some help...and that was only after Eyewitness News called the police department...who said, call the fire department...who said, call 9-1-1...who said, call 3-1-1..who said, call the mayor's office.

In the meantime, a Good Samaritan -- tried to remove the immediate hazard out on the sidewalk. He lured about a thousand bees into a bag -- which was later placed inside a box. But pedestrians were still at risk, and the bees continued to filter out of the building.

Eyewitness News: "What were people doing when you approached this??"
Good Samaritan, Edward Albers: "I don't know...they were laughing...some of 'em..."
Eyewitness News: "Was anyone stung??"
Albers: "Not yet..."

And finally, at around 4 p.m. the NYPD's bee specialist arrived -- but removing the hive was no easy task...

"I'm probably gonna be relying on scent...the queen bee's scent...it could take a half hour&an hour...two hours...I don't know," NYPD bee expert Tony Planakis said.

And so the spectacle continued.

"It's just something I've never seen before...this is Manhattan, New York...I guess you could see anything," bee watcher Leath said.

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