Unknown White Powder Sent To U.N. Missions, Consulate

FDNY trucks on the scene (photo by Jonathan Weiss)

Hazmat teams descended on two United Nations missions and a consulate in midtown Manhattan last evening, after they received envelopes containing an unknown white powder. Decontamination tents were set up outside the French Mission at 245 East 47th, the Austrian Mission at 600 Third Avenue, and Uzbekistan Consulate at 801 Second AVenue.

According to WCBS 2, "Dozens of people were exposed to whatever was in those letters. More than 30 people were waiting to be brought downstairs and decontaminated in showers set up by the FDNY at the French Mission." And MyFoxNY reports, "At the Uzbekistan mission, on 2nd Avenue, two people were decontaminated as a precaution. Eight people at the Austrian mission, on 3rd Avenue, were decontaminated."

The preliminary tests on the substance sent to the Uzbekistan mission reportedly came back negative for anthrax or other dangerous substances. And the envelopes all had Dallas postmarks. One resident in the area told WCBS 2, "When you live in this neighborhood you assume a little bit of risk. Hey, you live in New York you assume a little bit of risk, but living in this neighborhood you know there's the UN around, a lot of embassies, a lot of consulates, missions, so you assume a little bit of risk. Hopefully, they do their job and everything is okay. It was a pretty good response if you ask me."

Update, 8:30 a.m.: The NYPD believes it was an elaborate hoax.

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By Jen Chung in News on November 10, 2009 1:12 AM

Comments [rss]

hotstepper

damn, i knew i misplaced my ski stash but how the hell did it wind up there?

moonbeam

Why don't all UN offices have secure mail handling procedures? It's ridiculous that they managed to expose that many people.

nicemarmot

Seriously, Uzbekistan? I'm kind of surprised someone dumb enough to send fake white powder through the mail even knows that Uzbekistan exists.

This does explain all the godforsaken sirens racing down 2nd half of last night, though.

coconutendo

Uzbekistan... maybe Borat is to blame.

thewildpansy

wow you're not funny at all, i feel bad for you.

theLtrain

What does living next to the UN have to do with assuming risk in relation to being exposed to possibly toxic materials sent to the UN?

Seriously what the fuck is that guy talking about?

Son of Spam

It's possible that he's worried about cross-contamination of mail since his may be processed at the same postal facility as the UN's.

I don't even know if that's the case, but it's all I could come up with.

WorksInDUMBO

I was under the impression that the neighborhood surrounding the UN was one of THE safest neighborhoods in the city.

t3ch

He's saying that when you live near somewhere that terrorists like to target, you need to understand there's a risk for that. You wouldn't move to California and say "Holy hell! There are wildfires and earthquakes here?!" or Florida and say "Holy hell! There are hurricanes here?!" So living in NYC you accept there's a risk of terrorist attacks. And living near the UN, you have to accept that there's an even higher risk.