As most of us are aware Apple opened its largest retail presence in the US today December 7th at the Corner of 14th Street and 9th Ave. By a little after 3PM there were just over 300 people calmly waiting in a light snowfall for the 6:00PM opening bell.

Person number one arrived from the Bronx at 2:00 AM this morning because he said he received an e-mail from Apple stating the first 10 people in line would receive a free laptop.

Person #5 was a writer for ifoAppleStore (The information source about Apple Inc's retail stores) and by 6:15 AM there were now 16 people in line all waiting for either their free laptop or free iPod which was an announcement made by Radio stations WQHT Hot 97 (97.1 FM) "Where Hip Hop Lives" and WWPR Power 105.1 (105.1 FM) "Hip Hop and back in the Day Joints". Both of those radio stations morning shows said that free iPods would be given to anyone in line over age 21. That explains why the line looked more like a Hip Hop R&B concert line than a line waiting to enter the newest technology mecca in New York City.

Scene on 14th street facing 9th Ave. between 3:25 & 3:40PM

I was in line for almost three hours before the doors opened. Everyone in line was congenial and typical Apple event camaraderie abounded, that is until the doors opened then the rock concert mentality kicked in; pushing shoving and line jumping. The NYPD and hired SECURITY force had to increase it's presence and started ejecting rowdy persons from the line. By the 6PM opening I could see approximately 2500 people snaking in 5 cordoned areas in front of the building. Upon leaving the store at 8:30 PM, I then realized that the line typically three deep continued down 9th Ave. back behind the store down W. 15th Street to 10th Ave. and back to W. 14th Street. Considering the line was typically three people wide and we were seeing about 12 people every 6 feet I estimate the attendance to be when I left the area, about 6,800 people.

The lines going up 9th Ave. and back around W 15th Street around 6:57 PM

My friend who went up to NY from the Philly area with me has attended over a dozen Apple openings worldwide and he said this one really scared him so much, almost to the point of leaving the line and going back to Philly without our goodies. I have attended a couple other Store openings myself and yes this was the most disorganized and uncontrolled of any. At 6:00 as the doors opened and the line started to move people started shoving over the police barricades and breaking ranks to get closer to the beginning of the line. Police and security personnel were asked to reinforce the barricades but the request mostly went on deaf ears. People on crutches were almost being pushed to the ground and they crowded almost to suffocation a man in a wheel chair. The line did not care they wanted their freebies. Mystery - Who Me? Line jumper to the left.

The Main display floor from the Glass Staircase and a 60 foot Genius Bar

The majority of line jumpers that pushed me back 50 people were caucasian while other ethnicities were being redirected by the Police and security people. The main observation of the line attendees other than the huge preponderance of apparent Hip Hop types there was a huge ethnic diversity, pick a nationality and there was probably a 1st or 2nd generation member present and they were not coming as a group but in pairs maybe the largest group being six. Another very positive aspect of the line was that in my four hours in line I only saw two people with lit cigarettes very unusual for such a large young group. Apple also provided seven propane heaters along the outside of the line against the building one about every 6 feet helping take the chill out of hands and upper body, especially those of us who were in line for four or more hours.

Yes we opened 45 minutes ago / Victor registering for one of those Pro App Classes

With all the line specifics out of the way lets look at what everyone was pushing and shoving to acquire. Yes we were all eligible to win a MacBook, iPod or a $10 iTunes Gift Card. When we entered the store we were greeted enthusiastically by a smiling cheering group of Store Associates and were handed a white box which contained our store opening T-Shirt and a Black Cardboard mailing tube with a label emblazoned with "W. 14th Street Apple 12-07-07" on the side. We were encouraged to open the tube and look under the lid. Attached there, was a sticker stating our take home prize. The majority of which were for $10 iTunes Gift Cards, so everyone was a winner. At this time there is no confirmation how many iPods and MacBooks were under those caps but by the time I was allowed into the store at 6:50 at now 100 people further back in the line because of line jumpers several people had already claimed their larger prizes.

The Poster a 9x7 iPhone Google map of Manhattan

You may be wondering what was in the mailing tube besides the Prize sticker, well (Yawn!!) a poster sized map of Manhattan made entirely iPods containing each portion of the map in Google maps with stick pins at the Apple Store locations. Nice and creative but not the type of creativity we've come to expect from Apple.

Additional Information is available in a comment thread over at ifoAppleStore.

Jason has posted more live coverage on his ZDNet blog: The Apple Core.

Were you there? Post your experiences in the comments and forums.