Movie Review/Crime Blotter

This evening I saw "Never Back Down," a delightful romp in the vein of "Step Up 2 the Streets." Both feature a kid with a dead parent, a youtube-based sport, an underground tournament publicized through text message, an authority figure who eventually supports their "art," and a third-act showdown in the parking lot of the official event. But on to the interesting stuff.

Walking to the theater, 42nd Street was mobbed as usual, except that everyone on the street was a brightly-dressed teenager. It was like being caught out front when a Broadway musical lets out except the musical was a public high school and the it was apparently an avenue block long. I don't mean a good chunk of kids I mean thousands and thousands and thousands of them. And there were police barricades and cops everywhere. A group of kids across the street started throwing up signs and yelling in unison, kids on our side of the street tipped over the barricades to run across, and cops came at them swinging batons to stay put. My friend and I made it into McDonald's just in time to be locked in as cops flew down the street to the action.

Ten minutes later, literally half of the kids had disappeared, and there were more cops out, telling everyone to keep it moving. With everything calm, I took the opportunity to ask a (SO hot) police officer wtf was going on. Only I phrased it as "Where did those thousands of people come from and what happened and where did they go?" Not wanting to give away any information, he coolly (hotly) replied, "What people?" I said "You know, there were people and then yelling and then police and then we got locked in a store." He asked where my friend and I were from and I explained five blocks away. Then he tried to (hotly) scoff, like, "Oh what, you've never been down here?" and I assured him that yes but it has never been crazy like that ever please explain.

So then he h-o-t-l-y says it is gang initiation night and to make it into a gang, kids have to grab a cop's gun, and it's probably not the best place to be hanging out. Which answers my question but hello I only have so many more!
1. Really?
2. Why tonight? Is this every Easter? Every first Sunday of Spring? Does it change every time? Does it get publicized over text message? Does this have something to do with youtube?
3. Seriously why Times Square and how did they know to pack the street right then? Is it an all-gang mixer? A national expo? I NEED to know these things, and they were NOT listed in Time Out New York.
4. WHERE DID ALL THE KIDS GO after they were told to move? Did they dissolve? Seriously it was astonishing.
5. That cop is hot.

PS When we came out of the movie, 42nd street was literally SHUT DOWN. No one was being allowed on the block. That is not normal.

I invite your insights and thank you for your time.