Yesterday, envelopes containing a suspicious white powder were sent to seven Manhattan locations: Five were Wells Fargo branches; one was the headquarters of JP Morgan Chase; and another was the mail sorting room for Mayor Bloomberg. Hazmat teams were dispatched to the various locations, but ultimately the police found the substance to be corn starch. However, some of the envelopes did contain a note, with the words, "Happy May Day," and "This is a reminder that you are not in control. Just in case you needed some incentive to stop working. We have a little surprise for you. Think fast." more ›

Add a 10-year-old boy and a police officer to the long list of people who have beef with Taco Bell. Yesterday afternoon the boy and a cop became sick from a beverage that was dispensed from inside a Taco Bell in Merrick, Long Island. more ›

Okay, so Robert Carroll didn't tip over a 500 gallon cup of milk, but the 23-year-old Staten Island resident did drive the wrong way on Route 440 in Perth Amboy, towards the Outerbridge Crossing, colliding with a milk tractor-trailer earlier this morning. According to MyFoxNY, "The mangled tractor-trailer and burned car could be seen blocking all but one lane of northbound Route 440," and the tractor-trailer's driver was taken to the hospital. Carroll was charged with DUI and hazmat crews had to clean up the milk. more ›

Kids are so gullible! In an incident at Brooklyn's Seth Low IS 96, the Post reports that "two students took a bottle of potassium [dichromate] from a science class and sprinkled some of the powder into the hands of other kids"—and the principal says "at least two of [the victims] then licked their hands." An official explained that potassium dichromate—"an oxidizing agent and in pyrotechnics, explosives and matches"—resembles Pop Rocks, while another said some students thought it was just glitter. The hazmat team responded; while the victims were not seriously injured, the pranksters were taken away in handcuffs. more ›

Last night, Seventh Avenue between 42nd and 48th Streets was closed so the Fire Department could attend to a hazmat situation at 1515 Broadway, better known as the Viacom building where MTV, VH1 and other subsidiaries are housed. Why? Because building workers spilled 10 gallons of hydrogen peroxide on the top floor. more ›

The white powder sent to Rep. Anthony Weiner's office appears to be a kind of antacid. The powder—which forced nine staffers at the Congressman' Kew Gardens office to be decontaminated yesterday—was harmless, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly told the Daily News. "That was the initial finding, and it'll be confirmed in a lab." more ›

With his Kew Gardens office still closed after a white powder incident yesterday afternoon, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn/Queens) blasted Sarah Palin for sending out a Tweet that he says could be interpreted as a call for violence. The vocal health care reform supporter says the former Alaskan Governor and Republican Vice Presidential candidate shouldn't have sent out a message reading: "Commonsense Conservatives & lovers of America: "Don't Retreat, Instead - RELOAD!" more ›

According to police scanner reports, seven people have been quarantined after being exposed to a "suspicious substance" during a "white powder incident" in a Lower Manhattan office building. At some time before 2:40 pm, a white powder was reportedly discovered inside an envelope at 26 Federal Plaza, a building that houses offices for the FBI, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Environmental Protection Agency, the federal Department of Transportation, the Army Corp. of Engineers, and the Social Security Administration, among other groups. Early dispatches indicate the powder was found on the 40th floor, though later reports say it was discovered on the 14th floor. Hazmat units are reportedly in the process of identifying the powder and a police source told Gothamist "we're looking into it right now." more ›

After three foreign offices received envelopes containing a suspicious substance on Monday night, three more received similar envelopes yesterday. First, the German Mission to the U.N. reported receiving an envelope, and later in the day, the British and Russian Missions also received envelopes. The NYPD expects more letters to be found in the coming days and Mayor Bloomberg said of the incidents, "Anybody that thinks that it's a joke is making a very bad mistake. If we apprehend you you're going to face criminal charges." more ›

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. more ›

Yikes: Up at 119th Street and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, a fuel truck apparently hit some scaffolding—and the scaffolding collapsed. We're hearing that the only person injured was the truck driver and that there's a hazmat crew on scene to remove the fuel. more ›

The conditions inside Ming Li Sung's Long Island City apartment were so squalid that police thought the stench was surely emanating from a decomposing corpse. But when an FDNY haz-mat team kicked in the door, they were shocked to find the apartment occupied by Sung, 69, who yelled at them to get out. Instead, police took him to Elmhurst Hospital for psychiatric evaluation. His neighbors at the Ravenswood Houses say they've begged the Housing Authority for years to take action on Sing, whose apartment was so wretched that dead flies would pile up on the hallway floor. One resident, Robin McNeil, tells the Daily News, "All Housing would do was come and sweep them up," and her husband thinks the sickening stench contributed to her miscarriage in May! Yesterday, police said the apartment resembled a landfill, with rotting garbage piled floor to ceiling. When they entered the place, an "army of cockroaches" poured out into the second-floor hallway, and McNeil's husband tells the News, "The police were throwing up." Unfortunately for Sung, the mess was discovered too late to be entered in this summer's Filthiest Apartment Contest; unfortunately for the rest of us, it's lunchtime. more ›

Move over Hipster Grifter, the Observer has their eye on Houseguest from Hell! At the center of the sad tale is New Yorker Matt Tratner, who visited London earlier this month and left his Fresh Meadows, Queens apartment (and his dog) in the care of a friend named John. A longtime pal of Tratner's, John's yoga wear line (sold at Barney's) recently went under and he was attempting to pick up the pieces of his life. Once alone, however, everything fell apart, he displayed odd behavior to those who encountered him, and soon enough the SWAT team was called into the building. They found him "standing in front of Matt’s kitchen window...butt naked and full of blood." Tratner promptly returned, to find his home in disarray—the living room sofa was in the bathtub, the apartment was flooded, everything shattered, and blood smeared just about everywhere. A hazmat team cleaned up most of the blood, but Tratner is left with upwards of $15,000 worth of damages. Yikes. With his friend now in a city-run psychiatric hospital, Tratner says he will not be pressing charges. more ›

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A Long Island woman was removed from her home wearing a HAZMAT suit Thursday, after it was determined that not only was her home infested with bird mites, but the woman herself had them crawling out of her orifices. The mites originated from a birds nest that was found in the bathroom vent at Nina Bradica's Levittown home. They soon appeared in force all over the bathroom and Bradica came into contact with them while drying herself with a towel after bathing. more ›

One Park Slope resident emailed us to describe a surprising scene unfolding this morning on 4th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues.

I went out for my coffee around 10am and there were 4 white undercover SUVs, an NYPD emergency truck and a large, black DEP/HAZMAT truck/mobile unit parked on my street! When I came back from my coffee run I saw a Fire Dept. SUV parked at the 6th Ave end of the block and a car from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner… A moment ago I saw a few passersby noticing the high volume of vehicles and they pulled out phones and cameras. Someone in the Medical examiner's car honked the horn and shouted out "no pictures." I asked the people from the ME's car what was going on, but they said they couldn't say anything and that I should call the 78th Precinct for more info…There's also an ambulance now.