https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/02/07/crush-point Skip to main content The New Yorker * Newsletter To revisit this article, select My Account, then View saved stories Close Alert Sign In Search * News * Books & Culture * Fiction & Poetry * Humor & Cartoons * Magazine * Puzzles & Games * Video * Podcasts * Archive * Goings On * Shop Open Navigation Menu To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories Close Alert The New Yorker Annals of Disaster February 7, 2011 Issue Crush Point When large crowds assemble, is there a way to keep them safe? [seabrook-j] By John Seabrook January 30, 2011 * * * * * Save this story for later. Ninetyfive people died in a crush at a soccer match at Hillsborough stadium in Sheffield England in 1989. Ninety-five people died in a crush at a soccer match at Hillsborough stadium, in Sheffield, England, in 1989.Photograph by DAVID GILES / PA WIRE / AP PHOTO * * * * * Save this story for later. On Thanksgiving Day, 2008, shoppers began lining up outside the Wal-Mart in Valley Stream, Long Island, at 5:30 P.M., near a small, handwritten sign that read "Blitz Line Starts Here." Like many other retailers holding "doorbuster" Black Friday sales, Wal-Mart was offering deep discounts on a limited number of TVs, iPods, DVD players, and other coveted products. Only two months earlier, the U.S. economy had nearly collapsed, and although the Christmas shopping season was looking dismal, there was still some dim hope that the nation might be able to shop its way out of disaster, as we were advised to do after 9/11. By two in the morning, the line ran the length of the building, past Petland, turned at a wire fence, and stretched far into the bleak parking lot of the Green Acres Mall, a tundra of frosted tarmac. There were already more than a thousand people. Store managers had placed eight interlocking plastic barriers between the front of the line and the outer doors to the store, to create a buffer zone that would keep people from crowding around the entrance. But at three people began jumping the barriers. The store's assistant manager, Mike Sicuranza, spoke to the manager, Steve Sooknanan, who had gone to a hotel to rest, and told him that customers had breached the buffer zone. Sicuranza sounded frightened. Sooknanan told him to call the police. Published in the print edition of the February 7, 2011, issue. [seabrook-j] John Seabrook has been a contributor to The New Yorker since 1989 and became a staff writer in 1993. He has published four books, including, most recently, "The Song Machine: Inside the Hit Factory." This Week's Issue Never miss a big New Yorker story again. Sign up for This Week's Issue and get an e-mail every week with the stories you have to read. Enter your e-mail address [ ] Sign up By signing up, you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. Read More Left Multispectral imaging reveals erased ancient writing. Right A crosssection of a carbonized scroll from Herculaneum. A Reporter at Large The Invisible Library Can digital technology make the Herculaneum scrolls legible after two thousand years? By John Seabrook We had never thought of ourselves as Roses saviors. We wanted a child and Rose needed a family it seemed like a fair trade. Personal History The Last Babylift Adopting a child in Haiti. By John Seabrook The New Yorker Sections * News * Books & Culture * Fiction & Poetry * Humor & Cartoons * Magazine * Crossword * Video * Podcasts * Archive * Goings On More * Customer Care * Shop The New Yorker * Buy Covers and Cartoons * Conde Nast Store * Digital Access * Newsletters * Jigsaw Puzzle * RSS * Site Map * About * Careers * Contact * F.A.Q. * Media Kit * Press * Accessibility Help * Conde Nast Spotlight (c) 2021 Conde Nast. All rights reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Conde Nast. Ad Choices * * * * * Do Not Sell My Personal Info