May 5, 2005
Explosions at British Consulate in Midtown
On 845 Third Avenue, between 51st and 52nd Streets, two small explosions went off at the nondescript Midtown building that houses the British Consulate. The explosions went off around 3:30AM (which is when Britain was voting, though there was no voting at British consulates overseas). The AP reports that the building was slightly damaged, but various officials say no one was injured; more details:
After piecing together the shrapnel, police determined the devices were toy grenades that had been filled with gunpowder. Officers estimated that one was the size of a pineapple; the other the size of a lemon.The NYPD says the explosive was detonated in one of the cement planters outside the building. Police Commissioner Kelly and Mayor Bloomberg just spoke at a press conference, explaining that an investigation was underway. Some areas are closed off, and the 6 train is skipping the 51st Street stop, but it's business as usual - so far.The blasts shattered a panel of glass in the building's front door and ripped a one-foot chunk from the planter. The department's bomb squad was at the scene and streets were closed in the area.
Update: Dan Dickinson has some shots of the scene this morning in his Flickr photoset.
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My doorman told me about this. It's 9:45 a.m. Nothing on ny1.com. Thank you, Gothamist!
On the BBC this morning they reported the cause as something like imitation hand grenades that are readily available all over the city, neglecting to explain that they had to be filled with black powder (sold separately)and a fuse. What must they think of us?
Could be IRA-related:
http://instapundit.com/archives/022815.php
Yeah maybe IRA, although they seem to be rookies. Toy Grenades with gun powder? I doubt it was Bin Laden's gang.
When they bombed London regularly, weren’t a lot of the bombs set off at night and on weekends?
Like sometimes they set out to kill dozens of people, and other times they want to send a message.
Ironic how the using the word "small" to describe the two explosions might make some feel so relieved that, well, thank goodness it wasn't two BIG explosions.
Barry, they were covering it on NY1 at 8am this morning, when I went there looking for the weather report. Although NY1 was the only one covering it from what I could tell.
CBS 2 Covered it this morning from at least 6:45am.