It's time for the tabloids to make a number of bada-boom puns, as the police confirmed that it was a pipe bomb that was set off yesterday morning outside the West 29th Street building owned by Sopranos actor Michael Imperioli and his wife. The NYPD said there no known threats to the Imperiolis and during a press conference, Mayor Bloomberg said, "While there certainly is no evidence that this was terrorism, we are taking this and every act of violence extremely seriously, and we'll take every step to identify and apprehend whoever set this explosive device off."
The Imperiolis also operate a theater called Studio Dante on the first floor. According to the Post, the explosive was made from a "2-by-4-inch galvanized pipe, black powder and fuse." The NY Times adds that the bomb as "wedged between the bars of a bike rack attached to a small ledge to the right of Studio Dante’s front door."
The building at 257 West 29th Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, has the theater on the first floor and residences in the upper floors. When the bomb went off at 1AM, some residents were evacuated. The only victim in the blast was a van, whose owner, Flavio Souza, is a bridge painter. Souza said to the Post, "When they said to me it was a bomb I said, 'It wasn't me.' I have no problems with nobody. It's strange, very strange."
The Imperiolis answered questions from the NYPD yesterday morning and Michael Imperioli told the Daily News, "I don't know anything about this bomb in front of my theater. I'm completely baffled." However, the News mentions that police found history of a dispute with a former tenant (though they do not believe it's related to the explosion), to which Imperioli said, "I don't think that's true. You'll get 10 different stories by the time this is finished."
Imperioli said there are "drunks and druggies in the area late at night." He said he had not been stalked or threatened and doesn't believe he was the target.
Imperioli showed up at his building hours after the blast and did something his mob character would never do: He talked to the cops. "I told them all I know, which is basically nothing," he said.
"It's terrible," he added. "This whole day felt like an hallucination. It's surreal. ... We have the greatest police force in the world. I'm confident they will come up with something."
Back in May of 2005, a small bomb was detonated outside the British Consulate on Third Avenue. No one was injured and no one was arrested in that incident.
And in May, the Observer spoke to the Imperiolis about their decorating.
Photographs by 1010WINS
