Attempted Bomb Attack Near Times Square

The news is a little unclear at this point, but apparently late Saturday night someone tried to set off a bomb in a parked van full of inflammable material in Manhattan near Times Square, on 45th Street between 7th and 8th Avenue. In other words, right next to the Marriott Marquis hotel we stayed at last month and very close to Junior's Restaurant and two Broadway theatres (currently running The Lion King and Billy Elliot). This hits way too close to home for me.

According to NY Senator Chuck Schumer in a CNN interview speaking from Times Square, two pedestrians happened to notice some smoke emanating from the van and the police and bomb squads were quickly summoned and arrived, completely evacuating the area for several hours. Thankfully, no explosion occurred. Of course the feds were brought in and a full-scale investigation is under way. I am earnestly looking forward to seeing the culprit(s) caught and brought to full justice under the law.

Two observations: One, this is a sign of our current times that public opinion is divided on whether the botched attack was by Al-Qaeda and/or its sympathizers, or by a domestic party more in line with militias and hate groups here in the good old USA. Schumer thinks the perpetrator was a "lone wolf", although he has no way of knowing that for sure. But in pre-Obama days, before paranoid anti-government sentiments were whipped up by demagogic Republican politicians and irresponsible media talking heads, almost everyone would have immediately pointed their accusing fingers at Al-Qaeda. Unfortunately, almost no one thinks this will be the last of this kind of incident. And sooner or later, we'll see a truly tragic outcome.

Observation number two: I was looking forward, following my stay in Manhattan, to seeing many visual references to its many different and interesting locales on TV and in movies (and saying to myself, "Yes, I was there"). But I could very easily have done without this brand of reference, thank you.

Lest those responsible for this act think they have intimidated anyone, I say in response, "Screw the bastards!"; I'm not going to change any of MY plans one iota because of this: I plan to return and have plenty more good times in NYC!

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(later revision)
Well, now that I've heard more about this incident, I should correct myself on a couple of items. It was a tee shirt vendor, not a pedestrian, who discovered the SUV (not a van) and notified a policeman. It also occurred early in the evening, not late at night as I first reported. As for who is responsible for the attempted bombing, although the Taliban has claimed responsibility, nothing of substance has yet been released to the press by the authorities to confirm this or establish a different agency. So right now, there is just a lot of speculation going on. ---WM Irwin, May 3