ABSTRACT

ON MAY 1, 2010, THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE ENJOYED A MILD saturday evening in Times Square, a tourist attraction in the heart of Manhattan. At 6:30 p.m., an alert street vendor notified a mounted police officer that smoke was filling a sport utility vehicle parked nearby. The officer radioed for support and, within minutes, police teams began to clear the surrounding streets, hotels, and other businesses. In the driverless, running car, the bomb squad found a homemade bomb consisting of three propane tanks, two red five-gallon plastic jugs of gasoline, a clock, electrical components, and a canister of gunpowder. Although this improvised, explosive device had been ignited, it did not detonate and did not cause harm. “We are very lucky,” a relieved Michael Bloomberg, mayor of New York City, said as he surveyed the scene.