Saturday afternoon a swarm of several thousand bees massed by the door of the GameStop video game store on E. 14th St. near Union Square. The Police Department’s bee expert, Tony Planakis (far right, in gray shirt), responded. As the sidewalk was cordoned off and the store forced to close for several hours, Planakis sprayed a box with sugar water, then waited several hours for the weather to cool, the light to dim and the swarm to calm. Around 6 p.m. he placed the now-filled box of bees into another box, taped it up and placed it in his car. Planakis took the bees to his bee farm in Connecticut. It is not known where the insects came from. No stings were reported.
