By Steve Lieberman
The Journal News

NYACK – It was a gang-related incident at Nyack High School that set off brawls across downtown Wednesday, police and some students said yesterday.Two people were wounded in the series of fights between the youngsters armed with knives, bats, an ax and claw hammers that afternoon.
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Police made five arrests among the 40 to 50 young people from Nyack and Spring Valley running through the village. Those arrested – three from Spring Valley and two from Nyack, ranging in age from 17 to 20 – face misdemeanor and violation counts.

The fights occurred when Spring Valley street gang members came to Nyack to seek retribution against students who ripped a girl’s red bandanna from her neck at Nyack High School, police said.

The bandanna apparently represented a street gang, possibly the Bloods. The girl accosted was associated with members of the Spring Valley group, police said.

“We believe the girl called someone we believe was her boyfriend in Spring Valley and told him the colors were disrespected,” Detective Lt. James Brown of the Orangetown police said yesterday. “That’s what precipitated the fight. Someone definitely took offense to the incident with the bandanna.”

Several Nyack High School students said yesterday that the girl flaunted the bandanna, known in gang parlance as a “flag.”

“The girl was displaying her flag and saying, ‘I’m a red ruby,’ ” said Alexis Giovinazzo, 15, a sophomore. “Someone pulled it off her. People said her boyfriend is a Blood from Spring Valley.”

Giovinazzo and Sierra Quiros, 15, also a sophomore, said some students dress in gang and other styles, but that they’ve never felt threatened at school. They said also that long-standing animosity exists between some Nyack and Spring Valley youths.

“There’s a lot of talk and people dress like gangstas,” Quiros said. “I’ve never felt afraid. People come up to me and say, ‘Nyack is so bad.’ I say, ‘What are you talking about?’ ”

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