As I was walking to work I noticed a small army of police and trucks blocking off 39th Street between Madison and Park. At lunchtime my coworker was chatting up reporters and apparently someone threw a bomb at the Mexican Consulate earlier this morning.
NY1 Story
The neighborhood surrounding the Mexican Consulate was cordoned off early this morning after the NYPD says it found replica grenades.
What sounds like homemade grenades were thrown at the entrance to the Consulate on East 39th Street. It's 2pm, from what I can see from my window things are calm outside.
[NYPD Commissioner] Kelly says the devices were thrown into the rear of the consulate around 3 a.m., causing small explosions.
Police believe someone on a bicycle was responsible. No one was injured.
Very little is known and being reported right now. I will update if and when more becomes available.
Sorry for the brief diary...on a deadline. :(
UPDATE: The New York Times weighs in with some additional facts:
[The Commissioner] described the two devices as training grenades or "dummy" grenades – perhaps purchased from a novelty shop – that had been hollowed out and filled with volatile black powder and attached to a fuse or a charge. One of the metal grenades was smooth on its surface, to replicate those used by the military in the Vietnam era, and the other was scored, like a pineapple, and is more common to the type used during World War II.
Thankfully, it sounds as if nobody was present in the Consulate when the explosions occured.
It was not reported until some workers showed up at the consulate, at about 6:30 a.m. and found the damage and dialed 911, he said.
NYT Reporter Al Baker also notes that the explosions were relatively small and only a window was broken.