“suspicious package” detonated outside Starbucks
I arrived near my office today at 10:25am to discover that Madison Avenue was cordoned off from 39th to 42nd St., and 41st from 5th to halfway between Madison and Park, because of a “suspicious package” outside of the Starbucks on the corner. I stood on 41st, right at the Do Not Cross tape, looking at the NE corner of the Starbucks for 10 minutes until the whole block was cleared all the way to Park. The main entrance to my building is between 40th and 41st on Madison, so I walked around the block to 40th between Madison and Park. I asked some questions of smoking co-workers, and then snuck into the building via the mailroom entrance. Fuck it, you know.
I had a conference call planned for 11am, and right before dialing, we heard some sort of yelling. Thinking back, it sounded something like, “Fire in the hole!” but who knows? The yell was followed almost immediately by a loud explosion. The building did not shake or anything like that, but the sound was very clear. Somebody nearby thought it was one of those steel street construction plates being dropped, but I assured him it was an explosion. I know what explosions sound like because I used to watch A LOT of Fox News. In any case, we dialed in and started our call anyway.
About 15 minutes in, I had to interrupt our client when our building’s fire safety came over the loud speaker. I missed the first few seconds while I told the client, “Sorry to interrupt, but we weren’t supposed to come up in our building this morning because of a “suspicious package.” We heard what we thought was a bomb go off right before we dialled in, but now security is giving us some information. Let me put you on mute for a second.” They didn’t bother responding.
The fire safety warden, or whatever he’s called, explained that everything was fine and there was nothing to worry about. I caught a bit that sounded like “the police detonated the package,” which I confirmed with others who heard the whole message. I’ll assume, for now, that the explosives were that of the bomb squad and not the package itself. I do not believe “a bomb went off outside Starbucks”. I think “a package of probably nothing was blown up inside a giant metal container outside Starbucks” is more accurate.
We went back to the conference room and completed our client call. The clients assured us we wouldn’t have to be so polite next time a bomb went off, and they wouldn’t be offended if we just hung up…
Anybody else hear or see it? NY1 and CNN have nothing about it yet.
any word on what went down today?
Glad I was not in the office today.
Nothing like a suspicious package to remind us all of the threat we’re under from The Terrorists… and to divert our attention to the fact that the US body count in Iraq now stands at 1999.
Sorry to be so cynical, but geez…
Actually, a soldier who was wounded just died today in a Texas Hospital…
2000…
~nj?
Trish, that’s wayyy more than cynical. Maybe one could argue that terror alert status seems to eb and flow with approval ratings, but I am pretty sure the NYPD is not detonating fake packages because of it.
The problem with suggesting stuff like that is that you sound like left wing idealogue with no grasp on reality. Do not let your disaproval of the President, the administration, or the War in Iraq cloud your judgement. We ARE under constant threat of terrorist attack. Terrorists, Islamic extremists, DO want to do you harm. To forget that will lead to the complacency that allowed Sept 11th to happen. I don’t know if you live in NY or not, but for those of us who do, underneath the callousness that carried on a client meeting 4 seconds after an explosion this morning, most of us will never forget what happened here just a few years ago.
I assure you, the “suspicious package” today was real, the explosion was real, and George Bush had nothing to do with it.
I got to work today to find Madison Ave shut down. Now I know why. As I left work today, around 8pm, a large number of fire engines were racing toward the corner of 34th and 5th. One very rarely sees a fire truck go against traffic, but tonight, a truck made it’s way UP 5th ave. I never stuck around to see what the emergency was.
Every time I walk past the Empire State Building, or get off at Herald Square, I always have an uneasy feeling. I hate it and those fucking, cock sucking douche bag terrorists know it. No matter how long, no matter how many cops, armed guards, etc. We will always have that feeling. Always. It pisses me off even more because I was just watching Men in Black and those two beautiful towers are in the movie. That’s the only place your kids and my kids will ever see them. In a fucking movie or pictures!
Word Chris!
I live in Eugene Oregon, and I will never forget 911…
Props to our service men and women!
The new site rocks! Keep up the great work.
Cheers,
Micky
I hear you Jay…. Ever since I was knee-high to a grasshopper I yearned to hit-up NYC and scope the towers… ain’t gonna happen now.
That sucks man. Sorry to hear that. New York is the greatest city in the world and it sucks that it has become the center of hatred for terrorists. Hang in there man, I think about you guys all the time.
I walk the streets of Manhattan with my head spinning around in every fuckin direction after hearing every fuckin boom or bang. This is the life we lead here in NY, and DONT blame Bush for this. They tried blowing us up in 93′ while a certain jackass was in office….what was done about it then????? it was ignored…we knew it would happen again……it did. Dont get me started with this shit.
Chris, you’re right, it IS a much bigger deal if this happens in New York. And no, I don’t live there. I have visited a few times - I have been up the Towers. I was there again last year, and witnessed an impressive security lock-down around the Citibank buildings that, I was told, was a drill, a necessary practice-run. If I had lived through 9/11 as you did I wouldn’t be so blase about a security scare. Apologies to all New Yorkers, I didn’t mean to offend, and I didn’t mean to suggest that the NYPD are in on a conspiracy.
I live in Australia. We’re waiting for our first terrorist attack, but hoping it wont happen. You can’t imagine NY without the Trade Centre Towers. We can’t imagine Sydney without the Opera House, nor what life here would then be like should the worst case scenario ever happen. Like you and eveyone else, I hate living in fear, and I hate that my government, and yours, never seems to say anything reassuring, other than “we’ll send more troops.”
First of all, many NYers like myself have become so accustomed to this new reality of Project Atlas drills (what Trish mentioned above), security scares and armed soldiers walking around our train stations and airports that instead of running home when I found Madison Avenue closed, I simply found a different way into my building. Yes, that is right, like a salmon trying to spawn I saw the police, the crime scene tape and the bomb squad and then still decided swim upstream and go to work (I went in through the Messenger entrance). I figured, “Looks like a small bomb. It probably won’t take my entire building down and hey, the bomb squad IS on it so what’s the harm?” Then, when the explosion went off, I merely debated with co-workers if it was a beam falling at a construction site, a bus running over a metal plate in the street or in fact an explosion. Regardless of whether or not I’m used to this reality, it is still one that pains me. I’m not happy seeing an M-16 in Penn Station when I’m taking the train out to LI. 9/11 is almost always present in my thoughts, especially since a firehouse that lost 9 men is down the block from my new apartment. They have a plaque out front which says, “There was a time when the world asked ordinary men to do extraordinary things” and I pass it almost everyday as I talk my dog for a walk. The “There was a time” part makes it feel epic, as if it came straight out of Beowulf or some other saga. That is what 9/11 is to this country and especially this city: a saga. The problem is, the story is still being written. I hope it ends with “and they all lived happily ever after.” I’m not confident that it will.
didn’t hear about that one on the knews, but it reminds me of the time a messenger arrived at our Madison Ave office, a messenger whose English was coarse indeed. When told he had to present ID to enter the building, he ignored the lobby man and started ahead anyway, at which point security appeared from behind marble pillars and body-blocked the messenger, at which point our dear foreign messenger got rightfully riled and proceeded to throw his package–about the size of a small breadbox–deep into the lobby, a real hail-mary, before running out the door.
the Authorities was there minutes later, and we were all on the sidewalk bitching about deadlines and the midday midtown traffic.
Mike, I must say that you are an ignorant moron. Before you start making assumptions, educate yourself to enough of an extent so that your statements are not completely irrational and biased. We as New Yorkers, as Citizens of the United States, even as common people on this planet Earth, have the right to act expeditiously and justly when threatened with and exposed to violence. In our country, a president takes charge, making key, decisive decisions. In this case, the president was George W. Bush. Do you know what he was doing when the planes hit? He was reading books with children at what was obviously a photo op. to save his declining ratings (even then). When he was informed of the planes, he did little but act calmly…too calmly. He did not have any idea of what to do, so, expecting it to be a bad dream of sorts (that latter part I am just inferring), the President decided to continue reading with the children. During this time, he wasted many valueable minutes. Granted the fact that no matter what, the lives of the members aboard the planes and some inside the building would have died, and granted the fact that this attack was seemingly unprevoked (this is my American bias speaking), the President’s responsibility of office was not enforced. He could have saved lives, many lives. However, that is not the main focus. The main focus right now is that the majority of Americans still follow his decisions without a shred of cynism, and frankly, at this point, that is what we need. 9 out of 10 people (admittedly, this is an assumption, but an educated one at that) would probably say that Saddam Hussein was the organizer or leader in the assault on the Twin Towers. You might even say the same. However, this is most certainly not the case. The only things we have against Saddam Hussein are his “weapons of mass destruction” (or lack there of), and his mistreatment of citizens, especially women. The latter is true, although not entirely his fault, but the former, to this point, is completely illegitimate. Yet our President, blessed be he, went to war with this man. He went to war, and will never come back. What we have on our hands now is a second Vietnam. The President says that we are making “tangible progress”, but where is the evidence? I certainly do not see any “tangible progress” unless you consider the deaths of our soldiers and innocent Iraqi citizens progress. The President, thus, has further disregarded the duty of his office. He has sent us into a war which we cannot win, a war which no one can win, a war that we already fought, lost, retreated from, and regretted. However, this has all been a tangent. As I said before, 9 out of 10 Americans would probably say that Saddam Hussein is the culprit. That other 10% (although I doubt even that) might have the correct answer in choosing Osama Bin Laden. Hey wait, what ever happened to him? Oh, that’s right, Bush gave up. He could not find him with the (limited) people (and resources) he sent so he thought the hell with it, maybe everyone will just forget about it if I send troops into Iraq instead. He almost succeeded. That is disgraceful, more than disgraceful. Our founding fathers (and mothers if you want to be politically correct) built this country relying upon our curiosity to lead us away from common knowledge, and to investigate for ourselves and come to our own conclusions. We have not done this. We have not been critical. If you make only one New Year’s resolution, make it that one. Do not accept previously established ideas until you yourself have proven it to be true. That is the sign of a true American and individual.
I would just like to add to that statement by admitting that I am of only 15 years, have more education in front of me, and yet I can see this truth better than most people in this country.
I am so confused. You all keep talking about NY but I heard on the radio today that the “active” bomb was found in a Starbucks in San Francisco.
And second, after hearing this story VERY briefly on the radio, I googled it and found no info on it except on blogs. What the hell is going on out there in newsland?
BTW, Aaron for President.