The Ragery, an outdoor rage room on a Lower East Side street, almost caused panic when its play violence looked so realistic that someone called the police to report a riot happening in the area. Roman Lupu, owner of the establishment, explained that patrons pay $5 per session to use a bat and smash a car as an “ultimate stress relief. The scene appeared so convincing that a good Samaritan called 911, reporting three men hitting a vehicle around 2:45 pm. However, they failed to mention the safety precautions taken by participants, such as wearing hard hats, safety glasses, earmuffs, and aprons. The truck was also positioned on a tarp and strapped into a trailer for easy clean-up.
Upon arriving at the scene, officers looked perplexed but soon learned that all vandals had signed waivers before participating in the event. Lupu explained that the Summer Smash event, which was advertised on The Ragery’s website and delayed a week due to rain, was intended as a promotional event for the business. The rage room opened in January by Roman Lupu and partner Bogdan Zhukovsky aimed at providing an outlet for New Yorkers’ famous aggression. Around 50 people took advantage of the car-smashing opportunity on Saturday, but the confused police were not among them.
The NYPD acknowledged that they received a call about the event, but the situation was resolved without further incident.
