3 arrested in party on Manhattan Bridge: Cops

Three revelers were collared on the Manhattan Bridge early yesterday morning after cops shut down a pop-up party of hundreds on the bridge's walkway, police said.

Organized by Bensonhurst native Alex Schlaferman, 19, partygoers gathered for the "Xandernation" event around 9 p.m. -- which included DJs with a generator-powered sound system, turntables and speakers -- and went on until around 12:30 a.m., when cops broke up the bash, according to the NYPD.

Schlaferman, as well as Brendon Risano, 23, and Giacomo Nacci, 20, were arrested on charges ranging from reckless endangerment to trespassing and criminal nuisance, but Schlaferman told amNewYork he had no regrets about putting on the $1,500 celebration, which was his fourth such gathering this summer. "It was probably the greatest night of my life and the greatest night of everyone else's lives as well," he said.

"There was just so much energy bouncing off each other," he added. "You didn't need to drink, you didn't need any drugs, you could just go there totally sober and you would just have the time of your life."

Schlaferman, who runs a retail business by day, said he has been hosting parties like this for about a year, including the three previous events this summer at an airport hanger, an abandoned field and a warehouse. These parties, he said, are his "way of giving back to the community."

Details of the event spread mostly through word-of-mouth and through social media, and some 600 people came out Saturday night before the NYPD shut it down, Schlaferman estimated. His largest party ever had more than 2,000 people, he said.

The Manhattan Bridge bash was the final of the summer, but Schlaferman is "absolutely" going to continue next year.

"Xandernation is all about the experience," he said. "It's not a party, it's a movement, brother."