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Bedford Bomb Scare Tipster Told Cops, "It's Probably Some Stupid Street Art"
By
Ben Yakas
Published May 19, 2012
Modified May 19, 2012
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By
Ben Yakas
Published May 19, 2012
Modified May 19, 2012
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Yesterday, the hipster capital of North America was under siege after someone called in a report of a suspicious package on Bedford Avenue between North Fourth and North Seventh Streets in Williamsburg. NYPD and FDNY descended on the area only to discover that the suspicious package was nothing more than a plastic bag. Now, the person who originally called in the scare explained to us why he did so: "I even said to the cops when they came: it's Williamsburg, so it's probably some stupid street-art project. The fact is, though, if something like that was taped to a column on a subway platform, they would have cleared out/shut down the entire system to investigate."
He told us that he originally called 311 NOT to report a suspicious package, but rather because he wanted to know whether it was his responsibility or the city's to get the thing off the tree: "I'm the one who reported the suspicious package on Bedford Ave., because it was taped to the tree in front of my house. For the record, I called 311, asking how to get that thing off my tree, if it was my responsibility or the city's. After that conversation ended, and I described the package, the 311-woman put me through to 911 and then the cops came. I left for work."
He explained there were two parts to the contraption (a small vertical metal box with a top-opening flap), and why it looked like more than just a plastic bag waving in the wind: "Coming out of the top of that was some sort of wire, which the cop thought was telephone wire. The wire ran up the tree (and was also taped to the trunk in two places) another five feet, to the plastic I-Heart-NY bag, which was hanging not on a tree branch but on a thin rod/dowell-type thing that was taped to the tree trunk. Packing tape was used. There was something squarish in the plastic bag."
He agrees that "it seems silly" upon reflection, but adds there were "some really strange things about whole contraption. Namely, it was done late, late last night, someone needed a ladder because it was about 10-15 feet off the ground, and it was very deliberate, precise and a even a little bit anally neat."
We would agree that at the end of the day, it's better to be safe than sorry. And despite some people in the area griping about the brief disruption, we can definitely say this was nowhere near as bad as the great Aqua Teen Hunger Force Boston Bomb Scare of 2007.
Tagged
bomb scare
brooklyn
suspicious package
williamsburg
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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