[UPDATE BELOW] This morning a 350-pound cannonball was found on Governors Island, which sort of makes sense given the old Army facilities housed there. However, according to some reports, the cannonball was found on a different part of the island. Dun dun dun. more ›

Police are investigating whether 50-year-old Theodore Ellinghaus Jr. intentionally set the large firecracker that killed him yesterday, or was fatally wounded by accident. The Post reports that Ellinghaus, who lived with his father in Ozone Park, Queens, lit an M80 firecracker and held it against his body. The device was so powerful it "tore a hole through his stomach, leaving his organs exposed." Ellinghaus' father, Theodore Sr., told the paper he doesn't believe his son would commit suicide. "It was an accident. It went off. He wouldn't kill himself. He told me he wouldn't kill himself." more ›

On December 29th, the NYPD Bomb Squad evacuated a six-story residential building on the Lower East Side in the middle of the night because one of the residents was allegedly armed to the teeth with grenades, firearms, and other heavy artillery. Why is the NY Post telling us about this now? Because the person who called in the report was "blond bombshell" Kayla Coxx, a "sultry transsexual porn star from LA." We'll have to take the tabloid's word on her star status, because we refuse to start our day by Googling "transsexual Kayla Coxx." (We save our transsexual porn browsing for lunch hour.) more ›

If yesterday felt a little more hectic than usual it wasn't your imagination and it wasn't pre-holiday hysteria (well, maybe it was a little bit): Three different suspicious packages around town were keeping authorities on their toes and everyone else standing still. Luckily the packages weren't dangerous. A package that shut down Newark airport was just a computer monitor, a Honda Odyssey outside the Met was filled with suitcases of clothes, not bombs, and a third suitcase found in Macy's which shutdown parts of Herald Square was also just filled with clothes. We look forward to finding out where non-explosive suitcases pop up next. Kidding aside though, better safe than sorry. more ›

Good thing the Met is closed today. A portion of Fifth Avenue in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art has been closed for the past hour and a half after a suspicious car was spotted out front. The NYPD bomb squad is currently investigating a suspicious Honda Odyssey . Meanwhile, buses are being diverted around the area. Traffic is closed between 81st Street and 82nd Street and 82nd Street is closed between Madison and Fifth Aves. We hope this one is somehow just a computer monitor too. Meanwhile this is not the first time we've seen a suspicious vehicle parked in front of a Central Park-adjacent museum. more ›

[UPDATE BELOW] Today's (first?) bomb squad investigation is currently underway at Eighth Avenue and 43rd Street. Notify NYC just announced that the avenue is currently shut down between West 42nd Street and West 44th Street. According to reports coming in over the wires, a bomb squad is responding to a suspicious vehicle. Another wire report says a "black male was seen running from the vehicle on foot." And the FDNY and EMS have been requested to the "frozen zone." It's a busy time for these guys; just yesterday they were down on Barclay Street investigating another suspicious vehicle, which turned out to be harmless. UPDATE: The bomb squad has identified the vehicle and the contents as harmless. Perhaps we'll never know why the black man was running, or where to. more ›

Around 11:45 a.m. today, we received word that the bomb squad was requested at Marble Cemetery, located at 2nd Avenue and 2nd Street in Manhattan. Over the past hour we've received reports that a device was found after aviation was requested to "check the rooftops on the block—it is now being evaluated. We'll update when we receive more details about the ongoing investigation... hopefully someone just left their SLR there during Open House NY. more ›

The NYPD shut down West 34th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues to investigate a suspicious package. Reader Brian James sent these photographs and tells us the package turned out to be harmless—it was an empty suitcase! more ›

NYC's new threat: suspicious packages that don't actually have anything inside that goes boom. According to the FBI, somebody on a "known jihadi web site" is calling for a wave of harmless suspicious packages to bring the city to a standstill. It's actually a brilliant strategy, because if there's one thing New Yorkers hate more than random explosions, it's being inconvenienced. more ›

Yesterday, President Obama spent the late afternoon and evening in the Big Apple. The agenda: Thank the NYPD for thwarting the Times Square car bomb and then a fundraiser for House Democrats. At Police headquarters, Obama said, "I just wanted to stop by say,.Thank you. The country is proud of you... the president is proud of you. I don’t think I need to tell you that given the potential for attack everywhere in the country, we’ve got a lot to learn from what is taking place here." more ›

Last night, the NYPD and FDNY responded to a call about a "suspicious vehicle" parked outside the Con Edison building on Irving Place between 14th and 15th Streets, a block east of Union Square. The 1991 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera had some gas containers in the back seat. After closing down some streets, partially evacuating a building and having the bomb squad inspect the car, it was determined that the vehicle was not a threat. Oh, and talking to the car's owner helped, too. more ›

[UPDATE BELOW] Not to be outdone by fancy Manhattan's recent spate of suspicious package panics, such as the paper bag/brown box incident of last night, Queens is currently playing host to the bomb scare o' the day. According to reports over the wires, a bomb squad has been called to the scene of 155-06 Roosevelt Avenue in Flushing because of "a suspicious green suitcase." Apparently, it's outside a library, which terrorists hate because of our freedom to check out books, rent DVDs, browse the internet, and take naps free of charge. more ›

After yesterday's two suspicious package reports shut down a block and then a huge swath of Times Square, people had mixed reactions to the disruptions. One person told WCBS 2, "Anything for safety," while a tourist from Atlanta said, "It's disturbing that anything suspicious can cause an interruption and excitement and everything on Broadway." But people really do see something legitimately suspicious! more ›

The police believe that the U-Haul abandoned on the RFK Bridge last night was the work of a car thief. NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said the vehicle was reported stolen from a lot at East 138th Street. Because of a gas smell and witness reports of a man fleeing on foot, plus it's a post-Times Square car bomb world, the NYPD's bomb squad and ESU spent a couple ours examining the truck, which was empty (the bridge was closed in both direction for three hours). Browne said, "We think, preliminarily, that it's a conventional perp." more ›

The NYPD shut down the RFK (aka Triborough) Bridge in both directions last night when they were alerted to a U-Haul truck abandoned on the span. After an investigation—which included the bomb squad—it was determined there was nothing in the truck. more ›

The owner of the "suspicious" white van with temporary plates and a fake police parking placard that forced a shutdown of Times Square on December 30—complete with the bomb squad investigation and neighboring building evacuations—emerged yesterday. And he was arrested! The Post reports, "The van's owner, George Freyer 36, turned himself in yesterday and was charged with possession of a forged instrument"—which is a felony—"Sources said a fake registration was found inside the vehicle." more ›

This weekend there were reports of a bomb going off on South 3rd Street in Williamsburg, during the early morning hours of Sunday. Now the Daily News has more details, confirming that the block between Roebling and Havemeyer was the stage for an explosion around 12:30 a.m. on Sunday. more ›

Kathryn Bigelow's directorial visions have spanned genres, from the freewheeling surfing bank robbers of Point Break to heady science fiction voyeurism in Strange Days, from the police thriller Blue Steel to submarine intrigue in K-19: The Widowmaker. We spoke with the former painter this week about her new movie, the Venice Film Festival Grand Prize-winning The Hurt Locker, which is set in a land that Americans seem increasingly inclined to look away from: Iraq. more ›