The blast is under investigation.
Advertisement
He added that a second device, found nearby on West 27 St. and cleared by authorities, was “similar in design” to the first. That explosion caused no injuries. The pressure cooker recovered at West 27th Street is now considered the best piece of evidence so far and the operating theory, which remains unproven, is the two incidents are related. The NYPD has recovered useful surveillance from that location and is talking to potential witnesses about seeing a potentially suspicious man carrying a briefcase earlier in the evening.
Mayor Bill de Blasio, speaking at the scene of the explosion Saturday night, said that there didn’t appear to be a connection between the two incidents.
“Tonight, New York City experienced a very bad incident”, de Blasio said at a news conference near the scene in Chelsea. “We do not know that yet”.
She added: “We have to let this investigation unfold”.
Meanwhile, New Yorkers will see an increased police presence around the city, de Blasio said.
“We do not have any specific evidence of a connection, but that will continue to be considered”.
A spokesman says the United Nations is assessing security in the wake of an explosion in New York’s Chelsea district as the organization prepares to host world leaders arriving for the General Assembly.
On Sunday, New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo spoke of “an act of terrorism”, BBC reports.
Some 1,000 additional state police and national guard officers were being sent to the city to patrol transportation hubs as a precaution, Cuomo said.
The explosion shook the populated neighborhood of Chelsea, and the newly-appointed commissioner of New York Police, James O’Neill, noted that no one has been identified as a suspect.
The blast came hours after a pipe bomb exploded in Seaside Park, New Jersey, shortly before thousands of runners participated in a charity 5K race to benefit Marines and sailors. “I mean, by the dictionary definition or legal definition – whatever the motivation is, this was an act that harmed many people, the bombing”. A spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in NY said investigators are examining the remnants of the device to determine how it was comprised, including whether it was real or fake.
A few blocks away from the blast site, investigators found one possible clue: a pressure cooker, with dark-colored wiring protruding, connected by silver duct tape to what appears to be a cellphone, officials said.
Advertisement
A federal law enforcement official told the AP on Sunday that the FBI was evaluating a claim of responsibility for the New York City bombing on the social blogging service Tumblr.
