Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Ring...Ring...Is Your Refrigerator Running? Oh, And There's A Bomb In Your School
By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 4, 2004
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 4, 2004
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist doesn't know if this is clever or stupid: A set of cousins called in bomb threats in to each other's schools in North Carolina and Manhattan in order to miss school. The first call was to a Warrenton, North Carolina high school; police traced the call to Manhattan, and the Post reports a detective went to an apartment on West 144th Street, where a woman said her daughter could have been the caller. Then a bomb threat was made to a Morningside Heights high school, with the call traced to...yes, Warrenton, NC. The NC cousin, a 17 year-old, was arrested for conspiracy and making a false bomb report, while the NY cousin's case was assigned to family court (she's fifteen). Gothamist understands that kids want to get out of school every now and then, but we think using the Ferris Bueller method of lying - you know, playing ill, saying a relative as died, etc. - works much, much better. For starters, no felonies are involved.
This story is a far cry from the Post's news on September 21 that the city was preparing for a nuclear attack. Best quote, from Graham Allison, former assistant secretary of defense and the author of Nuclear Terrorism: The Ultimate Preventable Catastrophe: "But once a nuclear bomb is in your city, there is very little you can do." No kidding. Of course nuclear threats against the city need to be taken seriously and precautions made, Gothamist feels that some of this "nuking the city" terror is connected to wanting readers to embrace the hawkish Presidential candidate.
Tagged
bomb
bomb threat
court
ferris bueller
get out
gothamist
heights
high school
kids
manhattan
morningside heights
new york
new york post
New York Post Online Edition
News: NYC
North Carolina
online
police
schools
terror
the city
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
6-year-old girl breaks leg after getting hit by falling bricks in Queens
The girl was walking with her mother in Maspeth on Thursday. The Department of Buildings cited the owner of a garage for “failure to maintain” it.
By
Charles Lane
Published Oct 23, 2026 at 4:30 p.m. ET
Mamdani extends ban on permits for new street fairs due to NYPD overtime
Critics say the moratorium harms businesses in neighborhoods without a tradition of street fairs.
By
Carol Chen
News
Mamdani extends ban on permits for new street fairs due to NYPD overtime
Critics say the moratorium harms businesses in neighborhoods without a tradition of street fairs.
By
Carol Chen
Inside the Midtown Bus Terminal rebuild: Decks over Lincoln Tunnel approach, a new park
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Black couple seeking Queens apartment sues over racist text from broker
By
Brittany Kriegstein
NJ early voting begins Saturday. Here's everything you need to know.
By
Mike Hayes
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .