Every weekend for nearly nine months, a McKinley Park resident has felt the walls of her home rumbling from the power of souped-up cars revving their engines nearby.
The “deafening” screech of tires drifting at 32nd Street and Hoyne Avenue have made it impossible for her to sleep, she said. The meetups — known as street takeovers — draw crowds of 100 to 150 people and can last from midnight until 3:30 a.m.
Like clockwork, the resident, who asked to not be named out of concern for her safety, said she calls the cops, who try to disperse the crowds, only for drivers to return with “remarkable consistency,” sometimes within hours.
The gatherings began there in April despite an attempt by the city to crack down last year. The resident says the noise and commotion have eroded her quality of life, and she feels even worse for her neighbors with young children.
“It’s to the point I recognize specific 911 operators’ voices,” the resident said. “It’s ridiculous. I hate that this has become a reality.”
Such gatherings were supposed to have been addressed in July 2022, when the City Council empowered the Chicago Police Department to impound vehicles involved in the street stunts. That was in response to highly publicized meets in the West Loop and other areas of the city, some of which led to clashes with officers and another that resulted in a deadly shootout in Brighton Park.
But the ordinance doesn’t seem to have deterred the drivers who have gathered at the corner in McKinley Park this year. The resident said she has seen officers taking down license plate numbers, yet she continues to see the same vehicles and drivers return each weekend.
The first incident occurred April 16, when about 150 young people blocked traffic, performed stunts in their cars and ripped down street signs, according to the resident. She said she later found images on social media of someone driving around with the signs, which have yet to be replaced. She also found videos posted from the corner of her block of cars driving in donuts and passengers shooting off fireworks.
The same scene has repeated itself every Saturday since, with the exception of just four weekends, according to the resident. She’s collected dozens of photos of the crowded intersection.
A Chicago police spokesperson said the most recent information on reports of drag racing in the 3200 block of South Hoyne were multiple calls made to 911 about 12:50 a.m. on Dec. 3. A police report wasn’t generated for the incident.
The resident said Ald. Julia Ramirez (12th) has made efforts to set up a meeting with Chicago police, but nothing has happened.
“I understand the bureaucracy turns slowly, but this has been 8 1/2 months,” the resident said.
Ramirez said she’s been communicating with the local police district and has made headway in securing a meeting to address adding some barriers at the intersection to stop the gatherings.
“I’ve asked the police department to sit down with our office and [the resident] to discuss what it is that we can put in terms of physical barriers to stop them from being there,” Ramirez said.
According to the resident, a police officer contacted her Thursday morning and told her the department was aware of the issue and had received 180 reports of drag racing on that corner so far this year.
Ramirez noted that police have had some success curbing other meets in the area, such as one that regularly took place at a Mariano’s grocery store near Ashland and Archer avenues.
But Ramirez said there needs to be more discussions about stopping similar gatherings, not just in her ward but in other areas of the city.
Ramirez acknowledged that stopping the street takeovers altogether is challenging for police because crowds chased away from one location regroup elsewhere.
“What happens is most times if there is a specific location, [police] work on it and other areas pop up,” Ramirez said.
Drivers and spectators rely on social media platforms such as Snapchat, Instagram and even the encrypted messaging app Telegram to share meetup locations. When those are broken up, many cruise around the city until they receive a message with the next address.
In October, Ald. Ray Lopez (15th) introduced an ordinance aimed at holding parents and legal guardians responsible for kids engaging in these activities.
The ordinance would make it a crime for any parent or legal guardian to “willfully and/or knowingly allow a minor in their charge to engage in a host of offenses wreaking havoc on the quality of life in Chicago neighborhoods. Those offenses range from panhandling, underage and public drinking and cannabis use, violating curfew and ‘climbing on’ cars to street takeovers and drag racing.”
Those charged under this ordinance could be fined $1,000 to $5,000, depending on the offense, and would have to undergo “licensed family counseling.”
In a Sun-Times story on the meets from last year, spectators Dee and Jojo said those who attend the meetups are not bad people.
“I think there is a bad misconception with these meets that it’s rowdy and uncivilized, but really we try and practice safety,” Dee said. “Everyone tries to highlight safety and there are group chats and Instagram pages that tells everyone to drive safely.”
Chicago police said in a statement that officers will continue to enforce the impound ordinance to hold those caught drifting and drag racing accountable.
“Those who are caught violating the ordinance will have their vehicles impounded and face a fine of up to $10,000,” police said. “We will continue to do everything we can to enhance public safety, including cracking down on this dangerous and illegal activity.”
The department was not immediately able to provide information on the number of arrests made or the number of vehicles impounded.
The resident does not want to see the people involved overly penalized, but she says something must be done to deter them from returning to the corner each weekend — she has proposed installing a traffic circle at the intersection.
“We’ve been terrorized by these kids, and I just can’t do it anymore.”
