Chelsea morning: The first thing that I heard
by Tom Sullivan
Details are still trickling out about the explosion last night in New York City's Chelsea neighborhood. Not far from Josh Marshall's window, it turns out. (He and his family were away at the time.)
Per the Guardian, "29 people were injured in the explosion, including one seriously."
CNN reports:
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio told reporters early indications are that the explosion at 23rd Street and 6th Avenue in Manhattan at about 8.30 p.m. Saturday "was an intentional act."The New York Times reports the police believe it was a homemade bomb:
But, he said, "there's no specific and credible threat against New York City at this time from any terror organization."
Investigators believe the blast was caused by an explosive device in or near a dumpster, a law enforcement source told CNN.
Where was the second device found?
It was found on West 27th Street between the Avenue of Americas and Seventh Avenue almost three hours after the explosion. The authorities described it as a pressure-cooker device like the one used in the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013.
A photograph of the device that was shared on social media showed a silver piece of cookware with wires and a cellphone attached. The police confirmed the photo was authentic.
BREAKING PHOTO! Here is the second device found by a NYSP Sgt. At 27 street and 7 Ave. investigation is ongoing pic.twitter.com/x7o9Rr30I3
— New York City Alerts (@NYCityAlerts) September 18, 2016
A surveillance camera caught the blast on camera from across the street:
Reports do not connect the blast to the three "rudimentary" pipe bombs found in a trash can earlier in New Jersey. Only one went off:
Al Della Fave, a spokesman for the Ocean County prosecutor's office, said he believes the blast was meant to affect the Seaside Semper Five race.Reuters:
"If it was just a matter of minutes, in terms of difference, there would have been a good number of people running past that explosive device" because of its location along the race route, Della Fave said.
Registration problems at the starting line delayed the start of the race, which meant no one was near the garbage can when the explosion happened, a law enforcement official said.
"We were lucky," the official said.
The explosion quickly became an issue in the presidential race, with Republican candidate Donald Trump remarking about the explosion when he appeared at a Colorado rally.Clearly, this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody's part. And Donald J. Trump – the man-child ready to go to war over somebody flipping off U.S. sailors – is just the guy to do it.
"Just before I got off the plane, a bomb went off in New York, and nobody knows exactly what’s going on," Trump said a hours before New York officials spoke publicly about the blast.
"We better get very tough, folks."
Democratic rival Hillary Clinton made a statement on her campaign plane on the ground in New York, saying she had been briefed on "the bombings in New York and New Jersey." But she said she would wait until she had more information before commenting further.
what is obama waiting for? president trump would have launched like a billionty nukes by now #ChelseaNYC
— (((Jeff Tiedrich))) (@jefftiedrich) September 18, 2016