Breaking: Suspicious Males Allegedly Sought In Subway!

2009_09_kumarfly.jpg According to the police and emergency responder scanners, there's a search for two men with wires around their neck! At West 42nd Street and Broadway, "LOOKING FOR 2 MIDDLE EASTERN WITH GREEN & BLUE WIRES ARROUND THEIR NECK, K9 ASSISTING."

And another, also at West 42nd and Broadway (but in the transit system): "LEVEL 1 MOBILIZATION CALLED REGARDING THE 2 SUSPICIOUS MALES LAST SEEN HEADING TOWARDS UNION SQUARE. 1 MALE IS APPROX 5' 7" 35-40 Y/O WEARING A NAVY BLUE SWEATER W/ GREEN AND BLUE WIRES AROUND HIS NECK POSSIBLY LINKING TO A DEVICE UNDER THE SWEATER. 2ND MALE IS AROUND 25 Y/O SLIM BUILD WEARING A BROWN SHIRT AND BROWN SHOES."

On Monday, two "suspicious" Middle Eastern males were removed from a United flight (one had disobeyed the flight crew's order not to use the bathroom before takeoff) but that was a false alarm. And NYC is on edge, what with the alleged terror plot.

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Comments (75) [rss]

you dont have to reinforce stereotypes with the use of the picture.

True, but let's worry first about the two guys running around with possible explosive devices...

Yes, please post a picture of a puppy running through a field instead-wouldn't want to perpetuate stereotypes.

So should they put up a picture of one of the white kids from Gossip Girl?

1. The picture is a joke. If you understood the context, you'd get the humor.

2. I agree with Whitecastlerock and Papercutninja. Why call it by any other name? Look at the terrorists who are being arrested. It's not stereotyping if almost all of the terrorists fit a similiar description.

Being smart/safe is more important than being politically correct.

They're going to end up pulling over every brown skin with Ipod headphones on.

is there a website where you can see the text from those scanners?

Click the Newsmap link at the top of this page.

Muslim terrorists. Green and red wires around neck. Christmas headphones. Good one. You have a future in comedy.

I like the K9 assisting part. Do Middle Eastern individuals have a distinct smell about them like camel dung or aged goat cheese? I thought that that type of stereotyping went out when John Belushi died.

Is a Level 1 Mobilization when they have a caravan of seventy five cop cars wailing their sirens and going nowhere in particular?

They should also stop shouting. Use your inside terrorist-alert voice.

Explosives generally have a distinctive smell (if you're a dog).

Is a Level 1 Mobilization when they have a caravan of seventy five cop cars wailing their sirens and going nowhere in particular? No, that occurs when there is a ribbon-cutting ceremony at a new Dunkin Donuts ...

Those caravans of police cars we keep seeing since 9/11? It's called a Facist Show of Power.

The 30-cop-cars doing nothing thing is called a "surge." A Level 1 Mobilization is something completely different, used for actual crimes or serious incidents. Level 1 is the lowest of four levels.

They reserve 'Level 4' for attractive drunk ladies staggering home with their apartment key in their fingers.

Level 1 mobilization is simply calling in the boro task force. It's used routinely for incidents like shooting, bank robberies, pretty much anything that requires some manpower at a crime scene or other specific location. The idea is that local precinct officers can go back to doing their jobs in their respective sectors, while the task force handles whatever needs to be done at the incident scene.

That might mean they canvass an area for witnesses, do an evidence search, etc. In this case they likely covered subway entrances looking for subject matching the description.

There really needs to be universal agreement on whether Level 1 of anything means the lowest or the highest level of alert. It's all very confusing. Defcon 1 is pretty much armageddon.

I just follow the "1st is the worst, 2nd is the best, 3rd is the one with the hairy chest" guidelines.

If you see anything suspicious, report it!!!!

I dont like the idea of young men walking around with bomb wires. They may be seeking revenge for the rcent muslim guy arrested.

Be careful on the subway folks!!!!!

This post is going to be a lot less funny if it turns out these guys actually have bombs.

It's probably one of Improv Everywhere's awesome pranks!

hahaha! that would be funny and a little messed up if Improv Everywhere got into costume of the stereotypical terror suspect and rode the subways with multi colored iPod earphones.

they'd be lacking pants if that were the case.

Anyone who pulls that "prank" should be shot in the head.

hey assholes crying racism- zazi was ONE guy out of many, all of whom want to kill you while you're fucking around with your iphone on the 456

At least your handle gave me a fair warning.

Yeah. Why does she call herself that?

Pardon my ignorance. What's the "456"?

Yes, for the sake of racial sensitivity, let's have the police waste time and effort looking for blond hair blue-eyed males. After all, there are just as many Mormon and southern Baptist suicide bombers in this world, aren't there?

Political correctness is the islamic terrorist's best friend.

Raging against political correctness is so 1990s.

Seriously, can we talk about affirmative action instead?

Why isnt this story on any other news outlet?

It'll be in tomorrows newspapers, along with all the other old news. zing!

i believe it's called "aged news"

Can we please, PLEASE get some kind of update on this?

Yeah, it's not cool to just leave us hanging on something like this.

THANK YOU!! Are we the only ones concerned lol

You guys need to chill. Half the people on the subway have wires on their necks. And I doubt that any real bombers would walk around with visible wires sticking out. Call Dad and tell him that.

Hey JenChungsBra, I think you should switch names with DOUCHEBAG5000. You're a moron.

Yes please update the story. Where is this info coming from? There is no mention of police activity or delays on the MTA website, no NotifyNYC updates, NY1, etc... Can we assume that the the trains are running normally in Midtown?

I've been looking for more info too. I can't find anything anywhere. Reading about something like this and not knowing anything more is really frustrating.We are already on edge like the article says...

all I know is a robbery suspect escaped from Manhattan criminal court and there's a Level 2 mobilization there.

Yeah, plus I have a zombie walk tonight and I want to make sure I don't get blown up while I pretend to be dead.

Something tells me the double-secret threat level chart has been upgraded to 'red'. The authorities seem pretty jumpy lately.
Perhaps it's time for that mountain vacation.

So what is the update? There's no news of this anywhere else. Was this a hoax or for real? Seems irresponsible to make a post like this with no follow up.

Exactly, i agree. I already called my Dad as he takes the subway to and from Union Square daily. Call it jumping to conclusions, but nowadays you can't be too careful.

FWIW, the MTA subway alerts email I received this morning:

9:32AM Coney Island-bound N & Q trains running local 34th St- Canal. Due to police investigation at 14th St. Visit www.mta.info for details.

9:47AM N & Q train service has resumed with residual delays.

Maybe you should get a job with the Gothamist. Seems they need a little help.

Reporting things off a scanner when it is just a suspicion seems a bit hasty. Especially when, as you already report, people are on edge.

It is not as if Gothamist is a breaking news site. Maybe wait until some actual facts are known before raising everyone's hysteria.

I still see a lot of extra uniformed cops in times square.
An lots of horse poop.

I'd like to report that on the train, the bum next to me farted.

I didn't call in SWAT or anything I just got up and walked to the end of the car.

user-pic

So... nothing came of it, I guess?

This was by far the worst post on Gothamist. Sensational headline, and then no follow-up?

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