For those of you still not quite awake let alone ready to face the MSM press, there was an
explosion in the wee hours of the morning outside the British consulate in New York. From the
NY Times:
Two small makeshift grenades exploded outside a Midtown Manhattan building housing the British Consulate early Thursday, Election Day in England, causing slight damage but injuring no one, officials said.
The blasts happened at 3:35 a.m.
There was an
early morning diary on this with some lively posts from insomniac Kossacks. But no satifying theories were put forth.
For my morning mental calisthenics, I've decided to play a game of Sherlock Holmes to jumpstart my day. So, with coffee firmly in hand, sitting in my Manhattan home office I take keyboard in hand to get on the case. Please join me, and you can be my Watson. Or better yet, if you're a better Sherlock, I'll be your Watson.
More below the fold ...
Oh ... and please ... don't feel that you have to resist the urge to say either "No shit, Sherlock! or "Bullshit, Sherlock!
I've been sitting here smoking a mental pipe and
contemplating who the perps might be and what message they're trying to send.
To preface this, as a long time Manhattanite ... I won't say how many years "<cough,cough> <blush> Must be that cheap pipe tobacco you bought me, Watson." ... I can tell you that incidents outside of consulate buildings in New York are not all that rare -- not in the least! They are only slightly rarer than major mishaps at NYC construction sites. And those are usually tragedies so they get reported regularly. Consulate "protests" are shrugged off by us jaded New Yorkers and the press here. But this one was an eyebrow raiser due to its timing with the British elections and all.
"Do I sound like a jaded New Yorker? Sorry. That was unintented, Watson."
So what are the clues?
Let's see ... we know the building and the time. Now where is the British consulate and where was the explosion in relation to it? Gee, consulate buildings in NYC are all over the frikkin place! Let's see:
The grenades had been placed inside a cement flower box outside the front door of the building at 845
Third Avenue, between 51st and 52nd Streets, police spokesman Noel Waters said.
<snip>
The consulate is on the 9th and 10th floors of the building ...
Let's examine this more closely:
It is unlikely that there is a crowd on Third Ave in the low 50s at that time of night. "What's that, Watson? You say "morning"? 'Toe-may-toe, toe-mah-toe! Let's call the whole thing off'".
Third Avenue is a street that, at all hours, is heavily trafficked since it is a major uptown/northbound thoroughfare. And cabbies sure as hell never sleep. There also should be a great deal of truck traffic since deliveries are far, far easier at that time of morning. "There you won that one Watson!"
This is after all "the city that never sleeps". "Now pay close attention, Watson, to this clever segue!"
This is very much within the business epicenter of the city. Speaking of which, Citicorp has its offices all over that neighborhood since the Citicorp building is 2-3 blocks away. <self-satisfied smirk> In fact, the major tennants of the office buildings in the area are large international banks.
And with offices of international companies comes nightlife: restaurants, bars and strip clubs and ... <ahem> "Shall we say ... 'other entertainment establishments', Watson? Go ask one of the RNC delegates if you're puzzled." The nightlife isn't for the locals. It caters primarily to out-of-town and foreign businesspeople visiting their clients, investment banks, or corporate/branch offices.
"So what can we deduce from this, Watson?"
Most likely there were probably a few people on the street within sight range of the building, a delivery person or two, perhaps a garbage collector, a couple drunk tourists and businesspeople since bars will close in less than half an hour. But no major crowds.
In fact this is probably the least populated time of day for that block: nightlife has pretty much wound down and the delivery "rush hour" is just getting started.
And what were these "makeshift grenades":
After piecing together the shrapnel, police determined the devices were
toy grenades that had been filled with
gunpowder. Officers estimated that one was the size of a pineapple; the other the size of a lemon.
No timing device was used, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said.
"My God, Watson! What kind of parent would buy their little devil a toy grenade?"
Now that is Interesting!!. Very IRA-like, no? Except, of course, that it lacked a timing device. "But let's keep that one on the table, Watson. We don't want to throw out any possibilities quite yet." They probably couldn't find a garbage near the front door. And I just saw the cement flower box on NY1: it's directly in front of the door.
So I think it's a safe bet that the British consulate is likely the "target". And while it could be the the IRA, it would seem more likely that the perps are pissed at no peace in Iraq and Tony-boy's trouble with the truth. "Watson, I think that Blair has the same problem with the word 'lie' that Clinton had with the word 'is'".
Whoever it was, it would appear that they calculated that this was the deadest time of day: less likely that someone would see them do it and possibly less likely to injure onlookers. "although, Watson, we can never assume that the latter factored into their calculations at all!" It is highly unlikely that it was a stupid suicide bomber-type person. And I am not sure Al Qaeda would be quite so "gentlemanly" about sparing the jaded citizens of our fair city.
It sure as hell was a warning shot, but it was more like a "toy gun" than the "warning shot" in Madrid.
And I think we can be assured that when we figure out who we'll know why.
"And so, Watson", I have laid my suspicions on the table based on the scant evidence so far. What do you think?"*
Yee Zeus! How did it get to be noon?
[Updated at 12:30 PM with poll] Now how stupid was I not to remember the poll!
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Update [2005-5-5 15:24:14 by Glinda]:: No, not an "official suspect"! But, Dear Watson, remember ... we are amateurs ... and very old fashioned ... so everyone is a suspect!
So, what do you make of this, Watson?
And I thought I was reaching way back in history with the Falklands as a choice! Well I guess old grudges die hard. Although I could swear the Dutch got over it by now!:
Police said two "improvised explosive devices" made from "novelty-type grenades" exploded in front of the building that houses the consulate.
The detainee works at the world body's weapons inspection agency as an analyst, the official said. Another U.N. source said the man is a satellite imagery analyst.