Car Bomb Found in NYC.

[Spitfire15]

http://apnews.myway.com//article/20100502/D9FEO8SG0.html

 

 

 

NEW YORK (AP) - A street vendor who says he saw the smoking SUV parked with a bomb near New York City's Times Square feels like he dodged a bullet.

 

Duane Jackson tells The Associated Press he saw the Nissan Pathfinder parked in a no-standing zone at about 6:30 p.m. Saturday, with the engine running and the key in the ignition.

 

The 58-year-old Jackson says he and another vendor who sells trinkets next to him outside a hotel went to peer inside the tinted windows, then smelled smoke and heard a "pop pop pop" like firecrackers.

 

Jackson says he first thought the car might have been on fire. Once he learned that a bomb had been discovered, he says he realized he and other vendors dodged a bullet.

 

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says the bomb is being viewed as a potential terrorist attack.

 

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

 

NEW YORK (AP) - Police found an "amateurish" but potentially powerful bomb that apparently began to detonate but did not explode in a smoking sport utility vehicle in Times Square, authorities said Sunday.

 

Thousands of tourists were cleared from the streets for 10 hours after a T-shirt vendor alerted police to the suspicious vehicle, which contained three propane tanks, fireworks, two filled 5-gallon gasoline containers, and two clocks with batteries, electrical wire and other components, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.

 

"We avoided what we could have been a very deadly event," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. "It certainly could have exploded and had a pretty big fire and a decent amount of explosive impact."

 

The bomb appeared to be starting to detonate but malfunctioned, top police spokesman Paul Browne said Sunday.

 

Firefighters who arrived shortly after the first call heard a popping sound, said Fire Commissioner Sal Cassano, who described the sound as not quite an explosion.

 

"I think the intent was to cause a significant ball of fire," Kelly said.

 

No suspects were in custody, though Kelly said a surveillance video showed the car driving west on 45th Street before it parked between Seventh and Eighth avenues. Police were looking for more video from office buildings that weren't open at the time.

 

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that officials are treating the incident as a potential terrorist attack. The mayor said earlier Sunday, "We have no idea who did this or why" but said it's not surprising the city is a frequent target of terrorism.

 

"These things invariably ... come back to New York," Bloomberg said.

 

The SUV was towed early Sunday to a forensic lab in Queens, where it was being "thoroughly checked for prints, hairs and fibers," Browne said Sunday. Napolitano said fingerprints had been recovered from the vehicle.

 

The T-shirt vendor alerted police at about 6:30 p.m, the height of dinner hour before theatergoers head to Saturday night shows.

 

Smoke was coming from the back of the dark-colored Pathfinder, its hazard lights were on and "it was just sitting there," said Rallis Gialaboukis, 37, another vendor who has hawked his wares for 20 years across the street.

 

A white robotic police arm broke windows of the SUV to remove any explosive materials. A Connecticut license plate on the vehicle did not match up, Bloomberg said. Police interviewed the Connecticut car owner, who told them he had sent the plates to a nearby junkyard, Bloomberg said.

 

Heavily armed police and emergency vehicles shut down the city's busiest streets, choked with taxis and people on one of the first summer-like days of the year. Times Square lies about four traffic-choked miles north of where terrorists bombed the World Trade Center in 1993, then laid waste to it on Sept. 11, 2001.

 

The car was parked on one of the prime blocks for Broadway shows, with seven theaters housing such big shows as "The Lion King" and "Billy Elliot."

 

The curtain at "God of Carnage" and "Red" opened a half-hour later than usual, but the shows were not canceled, said spokesman Adrian Bryan-Brown.

 

Katy Neubauer, 46, and Becca Saunders, 39, of Milwaukee, were shopping for souvenirs two blocks south of the SUV when they saw panicked crowds.

 

"It was a mass of people running away from the scene," Neubauer said.

 

Said Saunders: "There were too many people, too many cops. I've never seen anything like it."

 

Bloomberg left early from the White House correspondent's dinner Saturday night. President Barack Obama, who attended the annual gala, praised the quick response by the New York Police Department, White House spokesman Nick Shapiro said.

 

He has also directed his homeland security and counterterrorism adviser, John Brennan, to advise New York officials that the federal government is prepared to provide support.

 

Brennan and others will keep Obama up to date on the investigation, Shapiro said.

 

The FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force in New York responded along with the NYPD, said agent Richard Kolko.

 

The latest terror threat in New York came last fall when air shuttle driver Najibullah Zazi admitted to a foiled homemade bomb plot aimed at the city subway system.

 

The theater district in London was the target of a propane bomb attack in 2007. No one was injured when police discovered two Mercedes loaded with nails packed around canisters of propane and gasoline.

 

Officials said the device found Saturday was crudely constructed, but Islamic militants have used propane and compressed gas for years to enhance the force of explosives. Those instances include the 1983 suicide attack on the U.S. Marines barracks at the Beirut airport that killed 241 U.S. service members, and the 2007 attack on the international airport in Glasgow, Scotland.

 

In 2007, the U.S. military announced that an al-Qaida front group was using propane to rig car bombs in Iraq.

 

Times Square has been a frequent target, if not for potential terrorists, then for rabble-rousers.

 

In December, a parked van without license plates led police to block off part of the area for about two hours. A police robot examined the vehicle, and clothes, racks and scarves were found inside.

 

In March 2008, a hooded bicyclist hurled an explosive device at a military recruiting center, producing a flash, smoke and full-scale emergency response. No suspect was ever identified.

 

Police have spent years trying to crack down on street hustlers and peddlers preying on tourists. But there have been two major gunfights in recent months. A street hustler armed with a machine pistol exchanged shots in December, shattering a Broadway theater ticket window, before police fatally shot him.

 

Four shootings and more than 50 arrests on a mile-long stretch of Manhattan last month around Times Square prompted the mayor to call the mayhem "wilding."

 

 

 

 

FUCK YEAHHHH

[Swindle]

so the mayor said new york is wildin

[Pet]

They say it stood near the Viacom headquarters which owns Comedy Central which produces South Park. Probably just a coincidence, but worth to mention

[earl broclo ESQ]

This has been all over the news here for the past 12 hours.

 

I posted this on my facebook:

 

I really feel bad for all those tourists in Times Square. You came all the way to NYC and now you might not be able to eat at Ruby Tuesdays. Damn shame, damn shame! You know if they still had all the hookers up there, nobody would try and blow it up.

[CACashRefund]

Why would you feel bad for them?

 

They got to see some real live big city shit

 

I live in a big city and even ive never seen some shit like that

[FruityLexia.]

I said she was the bomb.

[earl broclo ESQ]

Why would you feel bad for them?

 

It's called sarcasm.

[Crocodile Tears]

This has been all over the news here for the past 12 hours.

 

I posted this on my facebook:

 

I really feel bad for all those tourists in Times Square. You came all the way to NYC and now you might not be able to eat at Ruby Tuesdays. Damn shame, damn shame! You know if they still had all the hookers up there, nobody would try and blow it up.

 

basically this exact statement except i would have substituted ruby w/ planet hollywood

 

true story when i was a kid me and my dad were driving up 8th ave and i saw a few prostitutes. one had a leg cast up to her hip all done up blowing kisses. they were everywhere back then, broad daylight and no shame. dad said it was the best lay he ever had.

the leg cast was true though burned in my memory.

 

that and the mayor was on the news last night at 3am with a red bow tie.

[FruityLexia.]

It's called sarcasm.

 

Whats that?

[T.T Boy]

dont think about the oil spill!

 

what is nyc belfast circi 1981 or back in mob 1930s? really a car bomb?

[BLU]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAoQjYMDKAk

[earl broclo ESQ]

 

what is nyc belfast circi 1981 or back in mob 1930s? really a car bomb?

 

 

 

No. The IRA knew how to make a bomb. The "car bomb" that was in Time Square wouldn't have made as much of an impact. I'm not saying it wouldn't have been bad, it definitely would have killed anyone on foot in a certain radius of the car, but if it were a real car bomb it would have done a lot more damage. Apparently the Times Square set up would have had a limited bang radius and would have ended up being more of just a fire.

 

Don't get me wrong, this is still a big deal and would have done some damage, not to mention there probably would have been some causalities for those near the car. But overall, this would have been a minor attack. If it were indeed a real car bomb, shit would have been laced with a lot more explosive power. As far as I know from the news, it was some propane tanks and "black powder." Unless the propane tanks were daisy chained and timed to ignite at the same time, which I haven't heard they were, it really wouldn't have been all that bad compared to usual car bombs that are laced all through out with high power explosives.

[EastHastings]

you dirty dirty bomb.

[CityonSMASH]

no matter how small it may have potentially been, given the location. it woulda catapulted the world back onto high terror alert.

 

im glad it did not go off.

[R@ndomH3ro]

I blame the Tea Party and Obama "Birther" Conspiracy Nuts

[earl broclo ESQ]

There have been reports of terrorist plots to bomb NYC subway lines foiled in the past few months. That put more of a scare into me than this pathfinder in Time Square.

 

Trust me, I'm happy it didn't ignite, but I don't think it would have done that much damage compared to most terrorist attacks around the globe. It doesn't sound like it would have ignited like a real car bomb that is usually detonated. I think this was set up to be more like a cooker or something. They haven't released enough info, so I'm only going off what the news is saying. We all know they lie. But with that info it sounds like there was no detonation device. If anything, the black powder would have incinerated, creating enough heat to cook the propane tanks and ignite them.

 

I think the fire would have taken some time to cook the tanks, and could have been put out in time.

 

All in all, this sounds like it might not have been a real car bomb. Maybe it's a diversion, maybe it was just a warning, but it definitely wouldn't have been a major attack.

 

But yeah, it was in a very highly trafficked area and there would have been enough damages to make shockwaves. So I'm happy it didn't work.

 

Whoever did it wasn't a pro.

[IrishCarBombs]

i blame harvey.

 

and the wifey works for the gov. in the airport.

they've been warned every week they past couple of months something

would go down before may, guess not thou.

[Jackson]

The 58-year-old Jackson

I am old.

[Spitfire15]

Why do you hate freedom and liberty Jackson?

You did this.

[1800SUICIDE]

I didnt even think about that aspect but very true.. that shit would suck

[Gat Bush]

I hope it doesn't happen, but one more attack is all New York needs to be considerably more fucked.

[MedicineCabinet]

lockdown

[pornbooth]

suv bomb maker = fail

[john_gacy]

News said propane tanks, 2 tanks of gas (can't recall the size, gallon maybe?) and some fireworks (?!?! LOL). Still, if shit had gone off I doubt people would be cool about it regardless of effect.

[CACashRefund]

They were obviously amateurs if their "detonation system" was fireworks in the hope that they would function as an incendiary and cause the gas and propane to combust

[john_gacy]

I heard they had some failed timing devices, not sure why they included fireworks. The car was found smoking, I guess a couple of sparklers would have made it look a bit fancier?

[acer910]

 

Whoever did it wasn't a pro.

 

 

maybe thats what they want you to think?

 

il bet you almost anything its some hipster who just watched fight club and wanted to "scare" the govt with this so he made a shitty car bomb tho

[Mercer]

Nothing is worse than the time square corporate processed food, bubba gumps being the worst.

That shit made ex wifey literally puke afterwords from all the grease and wholesome American deep frying.

I can't believe people travel all this way and end up at Applby's and order a frozen steak.

 

 

Why cant they target another area and just end up here fucking shit up.

If any terrorists are reading, America is fucking huge, check out some other areas you faggots.

Arizona is a shithole and you'd feel more at home in the dessert environment.

Or why not go to some redneck shithole in the countryside where people have "fuck islam" bumper stickers.

[acer910]

Nothing is worse than the time square corporate processed food, bubba gumps being the worst.

That shit made ex wifey literally puke afterwords from all the grease and wholesome American deep frying.

I can't believe people travel all this way and end up at Applby's and order a frozen steak.

 

 

Why cant they target another area and just end up here fucking shit up.

If any terrorists are reading, America is fucking huge, check out some other areas you faggots.

Arizona is a shithole and you'd feel more at home in the dessert environment.

Or why not go to some redneck shithole in the countryside where people have "fuck islam" bumper stickers.

 

thats like saying "why go for the hot girl at the party? theres plenty of fat ugly drunk girls to fuck"

[john_gacy]

With all the cabbies in Times Square they'd really be blowing up their own people