EXPLOSION NEAR TIMES SQUARE NEW YORK

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NEW TIMES SQUARE EXPLOSION
IS ONLY ELECTRICAL MALFUNCTION
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James Edstrom

I am watching the news reports on the explosions today in Times Square, and they are just jumping at straws. First of all, I was in front of Popeye's on 40th street just when the explosions happened. This is not a bomb. It started with the manhole covers shooting smoke and flames through the tiny vents on the side on the manhole cover. All of a sudden I heard a explosion and more flames shot out of the small vents. About two minutes later, about 20 feet away the same thing happened to another manhole, but this time I was right next to it trying to cross the street and get away. I felt like the whole street was going to explode. As I was almost at the corner, another explosion happened, this one was huge. I assumed, more would follow up and down the street, so I left the area. I ended up going to get a subway instead. But what concerns me more, is the crowd control. There were so many people just going under the police lines to take photos and to see what happened. The fire department and the police should have made everyone leave the area. Employees from the New York Times were very close and just watching as each manhole cover exploded. The police and fire departments need to move faster to get people away from a possible disaster. On the incident on Saturday night with the alleged car bomb, I watched as the police ran to the scene. Not only were they not able to park their police cars, like they have been practicing for so many years now, they were very slow on getting the crowd away from the scene. I think the most important thing in a bomb scare, is to get everyone away as quick as possible, then analyze the situation. It seems they are doing the reverse. I'm not bashing the police departments, I am only stating facts. Once again, I must stress, today's incident was not a bomb, I was there, I saw what happened.
Photo By: John Martini