Man convicted of making explosives, throwing one onto NYC subway tracks faces sentencing
A New York City man will be sentenced Friday after he pleaded guilty to making explosives, storing them on apartment building rooftops and throwing at least one onto subway tracks.
Michael Gann was charged in June 2025 when prosecutors said he made six devices and set one of them off near the East River and the FDR Drive.
He tried to get rid of the rest by hurling them into the river from the Manhattan side of the Williamsburg Bridge. Two of them landed in the water, and one landed on train tracks. Authorities said they found one in Gann's bag and another in his pocket.
The indictment said he stored the explosives on the rooftops of SoHo apartments. Investigators said they found 30 grams of explosive powder on top of the buildings.
Gann learned how to make explosives online
Gann told law enforcement he was trying to make pyrotechnics and learned how to do it using the internet.
Investigators said before he was arrested, he searched for "3D gun printing," "clorine bomb [cq]," and "firework chemical equation."
He also told law enforcement he used artificial intelligence to learn which chemicals to use and mix.
A month before the incident, he ordered pounds of chemicals, dozens of cardboard tubes and 50 feet worth of fuses.
"Very damaging, even deadly"
Rebecca Weiner, the NYPD's deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism, previously said these devices are highly dangerous.
"Even a relatively small-looking device -- in this case 600 times the explosive power of a firework -- in close proximity of a subway car can be very damaging, even deadly," she said.
Gann faced a host of federal charges, including attempted destruction of property by explosives and transporting explosive materials. The charges carry a maximum potential sentence of 40 years in prison.
