Palace cancelled its Nike Air Max 95 NYC release after wristband chaos and arrests

Palace Skateboards, the London skate brand known for hyped weekly drops, was set to release its third Nike collaboration — an Air Max 95 — on April 10, 2026. For the in-store launch at its SoHo shop in New York, Palace planned to hand out wristbands the day before, the ticket needed to buy a pair on release day.

On the evening of Thursday, April 9, a large crowd lined up outside the store for the wristbands. The queue turned unruly, and the NYPD answered a 911 call about a verbal dispute that escalated into a physical altercation. Two 21-year-old men were arrested and charged with assault. Sneaker media described line-cutting, pushing and shoving, and police broke the line up over safety concerns.

The next morning Palace announced on Instagram that the New York in-store release was cancelled, pointing buyers to the online release at 11 a.m. A drop meant to reward the brand's most loyal fans instead ended with the physical launch scrapped and two people charged.

Palace cancelled the in-store release after the wristband day spiraled into shoving and arrests, pushing buyers to the online drop instead.

Wristband distribution put far more demand than supply onto one SoHo doorway with no real crowd plan.

Line-cutting and shoving escalated into a physical altercation that drew a 911 call and the NYPD.

Two people were arrested and charged with assault, leaving Palace no choice but to cancel the in-store release.

A wristband is not a crowd-control plan. When a physical drop puts more hype than one doorway can hold, the queue can end in arrests — and the store release itself becomes the casualty.

Palace moved the Air Max 95 to its web release at 11 a.m. on April 10 as planned, and the collab — the brand's third with Nike — still landed. But the New York launch is remembered for the SoHo crowd: Complex reported the raffle shut down by police over safety, and sneaker outlets ran the line-cutting and arrests as the story. For Palace, the drop worked online; the in-store experience did not survive contact with its own hype.