Grenade found near the MTA service station under the No.1 train overpass in Inwood.
Inwood residents said a grenade was found Thursday afternoon near an MTA maintenance shop under the No. 1 train overpass, 10th Ave. New York Police Department officers along with bomb squad specialists rushed to the spot and removed the explosive device, after receiving a call about the item at 12:50 p.m., according to a report in DNAinfo.com.
Nicolas Perez, a 22-year-old audio technician at Syntax Communication, a shop opposite the maintenance shop, said that five police cars, with at least 20 police officers, gathered at the station around 1 p.m. Perez said that the streets were closed and traffic was diverted for an hour.
On reaching the scene, the cops put barricades around the station and started telling curious people to get on the sidewalk. Perez said, “The cops asked us to stay inside the shop and said not to come out.”
Perez said that although he was initially confused seeing the chaos created in this otherwise quiet neighborhood, as the police presence increased, he grew scared. “I was, like, oh my God, what is going to happen?” recalled Perez.
Altagracia Perez, the 57-year-old owner of Syntax Communication, said, “ I reached my shop at around 1:50 p.m. and there still were so many cops in the neighborhood.”. After another hour of chaos and confusion, the barricades were removed and normal activity was restored.
MTA officials have not replied to an email enquiry and the police department hasn’t confirmed the incident at this time. It was unknown if the grenade was live.
