New York police officers fought pitch battles with a crowd of several thousand people who had gathered in Manhattan’s Union Square for a Playstation 5 giveaway by YouTuber Kai Cenat.

News helicopter footage showed fights breaking out, rioters hurling stones and chairs at police officers, climbing on to a subway station entrance and tearing down metal barriers.

As the crowd of mostly young people crammed into Union Square Park ahead of an anticipated appearance by Mr Cenat at 4pm, violence suddenly exploded.

The NYPD then put out an alert for every available officer across the five boroughs — up to 1,000 officers — to go straight to Union Square to deal with the rioting.

A line of police with clubs and shields smashed through the crowd at around 4.30pm, and began to regain control of the situation, according to reporters on the ground.

Mr Cenat, 21, a YouTube star and live-streamer who has 6.5 million followers on Twitch, posted an image promoting a giveaway at 4pm on his Instagram page.

He was seen in the centre of Union Square surrounded by hundreds of fans clamouring for a photo.

He was removed from the square and taken into custody for questioning by police, NBC News reported, citing police sources.

Police have asked people to stay away from the area, and to expect traffic delays and disruptions to public transport.

Earlier, CBS News New York showed live video footage showing several people had climbed onto a roof at the entrance to Union Square.

People were throwings rocks, bottles at police, and at least one person set off a fire extinguisher, CBS reported.

The network stated that youths had broken into a construction site in Union Square and armed themselves with tools.

Traffic was snarled in streets surrounding the square, with groups of youths climbing on top of vehicles.

People could be seen pounding on the side of a bus, and climbing on top of another bus and jumping up and down.

The MTA prevented subway trains from stopping at Union Square for about an hour, before resuming regular services just before 5pm.

Large amounts of paint was splattered across the south side of Union Square Park.

Police erected metal barricades to try to push the crowd back and warned the crowd over loud speakers: “This gathering is unlawful. You are ordered to disperse.

“If you leave voluntarily, no charges will be placed against you. If you refuse to leave you will be arrested for unlawful assembly.”

Multiple people were seen being taken away in handcuffs.

There were reports of injuries to NYPD officers and civilians, and the NYPD was expected to provide an update later on Friday.

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