Mayor Calls W. 23rd St. Explosion ‘Intentional’

Mayor Bill de Blasio, at a Sept. 17 press conference, on W. 23rd St. Photo by Zach Williams. — Mayor Bill de Blasio, at a Sept. 17 press conference on W. 23rd St., btw. Fifth & Sixth Aves. Photo by Zach Williams.

Posted 1:30am, Sun., Sept. 18, 2016

BY ZACH WILLIAMS | Flanked by NYPD, FDNY, and elected officials, Mayor Bill de Blasio said an explosion on W. 23rd St. is believed to have been “an intentional act.”

Police are still investigating the incident, which occurred at about 8:30 p.m. on Sat., Sept. 17. De Blasio said, at an 11:20 p.m. press conference (see video), that there is “no evidence of a terrorist connection.”

The incident injured 29 people, one seriously. Police with dogs continued sweeping through Chelsea past midnight, after a suspicious pressure cooker was found on W. 27th St. (with a cellphone and wires, as reported by NY1).

“I want to be clear, whatever the cause, whatever the intention, New Yorkers will not be intimated. We are not going to let anyone change who we are and how we go about our lives,” de Blasio said at the press conference.

Newly-installed Police Commissioner James O’Neill told reporters that police have video of the explosion, believed to have originated from a dumpster. While on patrol, police from the 10th Precinct witnessed the incident, which took place at 131 W. 23rd St., btw. Sixth and Seventh Aves. (in close proximity to Selis Manor, a housing facility for the blind and visually impaired).

The FBI has joined the NYPD in investigating the cause of the incident. There are no indications that it was a gas explosion, O’Neill added.

explosion2 — The NYPD directed pedestrians west, away from the site of the explosion, increasing the protective perimeter as the evening went on. Photo by Zach Williams.

Chelsea residents said they felt the explosion from their nearby homes and were not sure at first what happened. West 22nd St. resident Simitrio Ramirez, 53, told Chelsea Now that he was watching TV when he heard “a really loud shake.” He rushed outside to see what happened.

“It was a really loud noise and it felt like it shook the building right away,” he said in Spanish. “I thought it was an attack. I thought about September 11th because the anniversary was so recent.”

While in her home near W. 21st St. & Seventh Ave., Sadeta Pupovich, 51, was playing with her granddaughter when her “chair rocked so hard.” She ran up to her roof and saw people filing out of restaurants and other nearby buildings.

This sudden interruption to an initially peaceful Saturday evening “scared” her, she added.

“I couldn’t stop crying,” she said.