C-4 Explosives Found in Historic New York Cemetery

Alarm Prompts Probe That Includes Mysterious Messages, Including One Chalked on Sidewalk

By RICHARD ESPOSITO

Oct. 11, 2010

About 12 pounds of powerful C-4 plastic explosives were found in an historic Manhattan graveyard, triggering a massive police response into whether the explosives were discarded or had been buried for some other purpose.

Police say an employee doing gardening work dug up a garbage bag containing military-grade explosives at a historic Manhattan cemetery last fall but left it at the site. It remained there until a volunteer told authorities about it on Monday.

(ABC News)

New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said today the explosives had originally been found in the New York City Marble Cemetery in May 2009 by a caretaker who dug down about a foot and discovered a bag containing eight blocks of the explosive compound. The caretaker left the explosives under a tree, Kelly said.

The cache of military or commercial grade explosives was rediscovered Sunday by a volunteer who placed the material in a trash can. The volunteer called police today when acquaintances suggested the material could be dangerous.

The call triggered an investigation into two messages that police feared could have been related to the find.

There was no danger from the material exploding, experts said. C-4 is a highly stable compound which requires a booster in order to detonate. Neither fire nor even a gunshot can cause the material to explode.