All clear given at Carl Schurz Park near Gracie Mansion after suspicious package investigation
New York City's Carl Schurz Park near Gracie Mansion was evacuated Tuesday as police investigated a suspicious package.
Chopper 2 captured footage of NYPD officers suiting up in tactical gear and opening up the package, which was found to be non-threatening.
The all clear was given at around 2:40 p.m. The NYPD praised area residents for seeing something and saying something.
"Earlier today, a suspicious device was discovered in Carl Schurz Park, near my home at Gracie Mansion. The NYPD responded immediately and secured the area. Thankfully, the device has been determined to be non-threatening. Thank you to the NYPD officers and Bomb Squad members who acted quickly to ensure New Yorkers are safe," New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani posted on social media.
The neighborhood has been on edge since last weekend, when two Pennsylvania teens were arrested for allegedly bringing improvised explosive devices to a protest outside Gracie Mansion as part of "an act of ISIS-inspired terrorism," New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.
The NYPD said East End Avenue between 85th Street and 87th Street was closed Tuesday while the Bomb Squad investigated.
"We had the thing yesterday, again, the whole street was closed off," resident Brendan Ryan said. "And now this again."
"We've never had an event like this, as you can imagine, so there's obviously concern," one area resident said. "The police seem to have been timely and have matters in hand very quickly."
"You live in New York City today, you have to pay attention no matter what you're doing. It's as simple as that," Ryan said.
"The last couple of days, nothing but helicopters and bomb squads, places shut down. They found a car literally across from my apartment with bomb-making material, wild," resident Jonathon Sobel said.
About this weekend's arrests
Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, were charged with attempted support to a designated foreign terrorist organization (ISIS), use of a weapon of mass destruction, and transportation of explosive materials, according to the federal criminal complaint.
They said they were inspired by ISIS, Tisch said.
"[Balat] also told investigators that he hoped to carry out an attack even bigger than the Boston Marathon bombing, which he noted resulted in 'only three deaths,'" Tisch said.
Early Tuesday morning, the FBI conducted a controlled detonation of explosive materials it found at a Pennsylvania storage facility connected to Balat and Kayumi.
Arrests came after dueling protests
The two were arrested amid dueling protests. One was an anti-Islam protest, with about 20 participants. That protest was organized by Jake Lang, who received a presidential pardon for his involvement in the Jan. 6 riot in Washington, Tisch said. A counterprotest drew about 100 people, including Balat and Kayumi.
About the IEDs found by police
The devices found over the weekend were bottles that had been filled explosive material and placed in glass jars that were wrapped in tape and surrounded by nuts and bolts for shrapnel, sources said.
Another suspicious device was found Sunday in a car about three blocks away.
