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 ›

Months after residents of a Turtle Bay building found their apartments coated in a layer of dust, an environmental testing firm found "highly elevated levels" of a carcinogen inside the E. 47th Street condo tower. A toxic substance found in mortar called crystalline silica got into apartments while laborers did facade work at the L'Ecole building at 212 E. 47th Street, according to an attorney for tenants who have filed suit over the incident. "It was like there had been a snowfall," said Steven Rosenhaus, who suffered breathing trouble and eye irritation after his 20th-floor apartment was blanketed in the the powder. According to the Post, building management has denied any wrongdoing in court documents. more ›

Another powder freakout, though this one is very tame: According to 1010WINS, a NJ Transit train that left NYC at 7:01 a.m. for Long Branch was stopped when a suspicious powder was found on the floor around 7:41 a.m. "Police say a suspicious substance found on an NJ Transit train was Ultra Slim-Fast. Spokesman Dan Stessel says the diet supplement was found on the floor of the sixth car of Train 3221... Stessel says about 200 passengers were transferred to the next train. The spokesman says no one complained of any health problems." It was taken seriously by authorities—check out the hazmat suit! more ›

The past couple months have seen no shortage of cocaine and food combos; there was the Bronx pizza parlor busted for offering blow on the menu, and at the beginning of March, Queens produce shoppers found bags of cocaine inside peppers purchased at an Ozone Park shop. Now it's come to light that at the same time that coke was found in the peppers, yet another Queens market was selling produce with white powder inside. An NYPD spokesman has not yet confirmed that it was cocaine, but on March 7th and 8th, police received several calls about little bags of powder found inside bitter melons purchased at a Richmond Hill grocery. Two dozen cops raided the produce store, Banana Country on Liberty Avenue, and cut open the melons, but nothing unusual was found inside. Owner Tae Hyun Kil assures the Times, "No problems with bitter melons since then." But when informed about the incident, one shopper seemed inspired: "Hey, that’s a good way to smuggle!" more ›

A little before noon, the police were called to investigate a "suspicious package" at the NY Times Building. Apparently a letter contained a white granular substance, and the lobby was closed as a precaution. CityRoom explains that a letter had been sent to Andrew Rosenthal, the Times' editorial page editor: "The 13th floor, where the envelope was opened, was evacuated for several hours, but around 2:15 p.m. employees on that floor were permitted to return to their offices... Mr. Rosenthal’s executive secretary opened the envelope, and she and two other Times employees, including a mailroom worker, were being decontaminated as a precaution. more ›

The woman who had to give up her 44-pound cat--who took the country by storm as Princess Chunk when it was thought she was a girl (but actually he's a boy named Powder!)--spoke out, hoping to set the record straight. Powder was found wandering around Voorhees, NJ before the Camden County Animal Shelter took him in, and some have wondered why the cat wasn't sent to the shelter in the first place. more ›