Shot fired steps from St. Patrick’s Cathedral in NYC after three-card monte game goes wrong

Gunfire erupted paces away from St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Midtown on Sunday when a game of three-card monte went awry, sending tourists scattering, police and witnesses said. None were injured.

Two groups of people had been sitting under scaffolding on E. 50th St. near Madison Ave. playing the card game around 4:50 p.m., according to cops and witnesses.

One of the men won a gold chain necklace, but the other was not happy to be on the losing end of the gamble, witnesses told the Daily News. The angry man walked over to a Black BMW, grabbed a gun from inside and let off a single shot instead of forking over the jewelry, they said.

“I … thought it was a flat tire,” said a 68-year-old security guard at a neighboring building. “A loud popping sound.”

The bullet shattered the driver’s side window of a red Mercedes-Benz.

“The guy starting running and then they started chasing each other down the block,” said a hotel bellman. “Everybody started running on the street … mostly tourists and some New Yorkers.”

The men got into their cars and raced around the block, the BMW chasing after the Mercedes and into a nearby parking garage, witnesses said.

One man from each car got out of their vehicles, witnesses said, and fought each other for less than a minute. They then returned to their vehicles and drove off.

“It’s lucky nobody got shot,” said an attendant at the garage. “My co-worker got scared and ran into the ticketing booth to hide.”

Police have not made any arrests.