You are reading

Dummy grenade found in East River brings bomb squad, police presence to Long Island City

A dummy grenade was pulled from the East River on Oct. 4 in Long Island City (Photo of police and the NYPD Bomb Squad at the scene via Citizen)

Oct. 4, 2023 By Michael Dorgan

The NYPD warned residents at two luxury high-rise apartment buildings on the Long Island City waterfront to stay away from windows and off balconies Wednesday afternoon after a dummy grenade was pulled from the East River.

Police received a 911 call of a grenade found near 4540 Center Blvd., a 32-story apartment building that faces the East River. The NYPD Bomb Squad was called to the scene and arrived a short time later, according to police.

Members of the Bomb Squad assessed the device and deemed it to be an “inert” dummy grenade and removed it to its facility in Rodmans Neck in the Bronx, according to authorities.

An inert grenade mimics the explosion of a live grenade by producing a small audible pop from a timed fuse, according to the U.S. Marine Corps website. It is often used as a training tool since it is hollowed out and does not explode.

Police could not say exactly how or where the device was initially discovered, although a member of the local Facebook page, Hunters Point South Waterfront Residents, wrote that it was found by someone magnet fishing, in which a person searches the water for metal devices.

A member of the group posted a notice from TF Cornerstone advising tenants at the apartment building and at the neighboring 4545 Center Blvd. high-rise to stay away from windows and off balconies as “a grenade was found in the river.”

Video posted online shows police and the NYPD Bomb Squad at the scene.

Police say an investigation into the discovery of the device is underway.

email the author: news@queenspost.com
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.


The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Hollis man charged with raping 14-year-old told teen, ‘I can help you get work’

New details have emerged in the case of the Hollis man accused luring a 14-year-old boy into his car in St. Albans and then allegedly raping him on the afternoon of Tuesday, July 1.

Virgilio Taveras, 63, of Hillside Avenue, was arrested by detectives from the Queens Special Victims Squad two days later and booked at the 107th Precinct in Fresh Meadows. Taveras was arraigned on the Fourth of July in Queens Criminal Court on a complaint charging him with rape in the second degree, luring a child as an E felony, endangering the welfare of a child and other related crimes.

Deadly Belt Parkway crash claims lives of Springfield Gardens man and Manhattan mother: NYPD

A Springfield Gardens man and a passenger in his car died after they were involved in a multi-vehicle chain-reaction crash on the Belt Parkway near Kennedy Airport on the morning of Saturday, July 5.

Noah Thompson, 24, of 179th Street, was behind the wheel of a white BMW 428i traveling eastbound on the Belt Parkway in Howard Beach at 6:05 a.m. when he failed to navigate the roadway approaching the Nassau Expressway exit.