Don’t call it a flashmob; it was a the ’30th Street Freeze’

Hundreds of young people gathered at 30th Street station in Philadelphia last night for what organizers called the “30th Street Freeze.” At the stroke of 6:30, participants froze in place. They remained static in the busy station for a full three minutes, as confused bystanders watched.

Hundreds of young people gathered at 30th Street station in Philadelphia last night for what organizers called the “30th Street Freeze.” At the stroke of 6:30, participants froze in place. They remained static in the busy station for a full three minutes, as confused bystanders watched.

The event was supposed to put smiles on commuters’ faces. But the violent flash mobs that struck Center City in February and March cast a shadow over the event.

Ari Melman is a student at Drexel and the lead organizer. He says his group has struggled with the bad rap flash mobs have gotten.

“Actually we changed our name from Drexel Flash Mob to Urban Playground as a response to the violent flash mobs, just because so many people heard the name,” Melman said.”One lady apparently heard that it was a flash mob gathering and sprinted in the other direction.”

Some commuters were delighted by the event. Others were confused, but said they weren’t worried because of the strong police presence.