For a moment, the amount of red and orange balloons lurching in the breeze late Saturday morning behind a Park Manor coffee shop was so great that it appeared the sky was aflame. The balloons were gripped by a crowd of at least 200 people, waiting for the cue from Verndell “Scotty” Smith III, the 10-year-old son of a beloved dance coach who was killed in a shooting earlier this week where they .
On Saturday, team members, relatives and other loved ones marched from his studio at 460 E. 75th St. to the Dunkin’ for a balloon release before heading back to a grassy lot nearby, where Ultimate Threat carried on Smith’s memory through more dancing.