Bomb blast in Times Square

From The New York Times:

New York City police officers and firefighters cordoned off much of Times Square for more than two hours after a small explosion — apparently set off by a manmade device — damaged the front of the Armed Forces Recruiting Center on the traffic island bounded by 43rd and 44th Streets, Seventh Avenue and Broadway around 4 a.m., officials said. No one was injured, and after a temporary interruption, subway service was restored.

Most traffic around Times Square was allowed to pass by 6:45 a.m., after vehicles had been diverted for more than two hours. City officials confirmed that police had initially blocked off the area as a precaution to ensure that there was no secondary device or other threat; the officials emphasized that they did not believe anyone was in danger.

Police officers at the scene said the explosion blew a hole through the front door of the recruiting center, which is at the northern end of the structure.

In Washington, a spokeswoman for the United States Department of Homeland Security said it was monitoring and investigating the explosion, Reuters reported. Asked if there was a link to terrorism, the spokeswoman, Laura Keehner, said, “At this time we’re still investigating.”

It is doubtful that this was any kind of al Qaeda operation. They are good enough at bomb making to have put together a device which would have done some real damage. Also al Qaeda would have tried to set the thing off when there were some people around to be killed.

This sounds like the work of some home-grown leftist nutjobs with a chemistry set who wanted to teach Bu$Hitler a lesson. They should be easy to catch.