
1950s New York City’s ‘Mad Bomber’ - vinnyglennon
https://www.damninteresting.com/ghoulish-acts-dastardly-deeds/
======
GigabyteCoin
>Police dismissed the [bomb] as the work of “boys or pranksters.”

My father tells me stories about how he witnessed people openly and actively
"recruiting terrorists" in public in San Francisco in the 1970s.

He said they were just standing around with signs and pamphlets, calling out
and trying to get you to sign up to their terrorist campaign.

Just as the religious zealots you see on the streets today that are mostly
ignored.

The world has really changed, and fast.

~~~
Maskawanian
Wouldn't police arresting those before they have committed violent acts be
considered thought crime? Shouldn't we arrest those that do things not those
who talk about things?

~~~
Broken_Hippo
Yes, but in most cases we are arresting people for _planning_ a crime, not
just nonchalantly discussing it. Handing out recruitment flyers for an
organisation that bombs others? Planning to murder your wife? Planning on
defrauding x out of their life savings? You know, actual plans that meet the
burden of proof for a criminal investigation. Yes. Please prevent this stuff
that folks are planning.

~~~
dzdt
Only more often it is the police who pretend to plan a crime and recruit
suspects to participate in that fiction. If the suspects show willingness to
participate they get arrested.

[1][http://www.npr.org/2014/07/18/332636882/newburgh-sting-
terro...](http://www.npr.org/2014/07/18/332636882/newburgh-sting-terrorist-
cell-or-group-sold-on-a-trap-by-fbi)

[2][http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/was-fbi-grooming-
po...](http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/was-fbi-grooming-portland-
suspect-for-terror/)

------
coldtea
> _Another exception occurred in November 1954 when, 30 minutes into a
> screening of Bing Crosby’s White Christmas at Radio City Music Hall, in an
> auditorium with around 6,000 patrons, a seat exploded and injured two women
> and two boys. Apologetic theater ushers asked 50 or so patrons near the bomb
> site to watch the remainder of the film from alternate seats, allowing
> ushers to rope the area off so the police could investigate after the
> movie._

Contrast this 50s crowd with the mass hysteria over the slightest disturbance
today...

Can you imagine people today sitting to watch a movie in a theatre where a
seat had just exploded and hurt people -- not to mention the total hysteria
from the authorities jumping in like it's the end of the world.

~~~
userbinator
I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that WWII had ended only a few
years earlier.

But, reading other articles about people back then, it does seem they were
less inclined to panic than those today. IMHO today's mass hysteria over
terrorism is playing directly into what the terrorists want, so perhaps
there's a valid point to be made for "keep calm and carry on" as much as
possible.

~~~
lostlogin
> playing directly into what the terrorists want

It more complicated than that. As much as it suits some terrorist, it suits a
larger group composed of the likes of the militarised police forces, the
administration hawks, defence forces protecting our freedom, arms firms,
security companies, the tsa etc. It's a big industry that needs a scary bad
guy.

~~~
jacquesm
It's a triangle. Terrorists, Media, Authorities. All three get something out
of blowing this out of proportion (ok, bad pun).

------
mstade
This was a great read, I enjoyed it very much – thanks for sharing!

It's also the first time I see this site. I've read a couple more articles on
it and it looks nice, I like it. The writing is good and the material is
interesting, and it's ad free on purpose. I pitched in a few dollars while I
consider whether to subscribe. Again, thanks for sharing this nugget of gold!

Edit: fixed fat finger typos.

~~~
Hasknewbie
_Damn Interesting_ is, as far as I know, the original "collection of
historical anecdotes" Web site in the vein of Atlas Obscura or Mental Floss.
They've always favoured long-form, well-sourced articles, and they started
doing it before it was cool and/or profitable -- the site was at one point
left unmaintained for well over a year if I remember correctly. So yes, hats
off to them for playing the long game, sticking to their formula, and not
devolving into yet another ads-plagued list-icles Web site.

~~~
MBCook
Yep. At this point they also have a podcast which is the author reading the
article and is a great lesson if you'd prefer to get it that way.

------
Spooky23
It was a different era for media. Locally we had a week of hysteria when some
nutjob crushed old mercury thermostat vials in a hospital cafeteria. A crank
bomb threat at a community center brought a platoon of paramilitary police
milling around smoking all day for two weeks.

------
sverige
Google maps street view shows that the house in Waterbury is nearly unchanged.
The siding is different, the narrower boards of yesteryear having been
replaced by wider boards at some point, but other than that it's the same.

[https://www.google.com/maps/place/17+4th+St,+Waterbury,+CT+0...](https://www.google.com/maps/place/17+4th+St,+Waterbury,+CT+06708/@41.540605,-73.0458198,3a,75y,309.78h,89.76t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sLQnGVnxPkDhPOh_RfhU94w!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!4m5!3m4!1s0x89e7c1a183f73d83:0xff7ad6651f4d155e!8m2!3d41.540793!4d-73.046008)

------
ezconnect
The police and the community seems to be more respectful of each other. The
serving of warrant and how they arrested him would be the total opposite in
our current society.

The only thing that has not changed is the ruthless corporations treatment of
their employees.

~~~
Hasknewbie
On the other end, they detained their first suspect with next to no evidence,
then locked him up in a mental ward for over 6 months despite new bombings
happenings while he was in there.

Remember Serpico (not just the movie, but what the real guy uncovered): the
New York police used to be hugely corrupt, until his testimony brought about
changes.

------
kerkeslager
The writing of this was incredibly twee--"booming side business" in particular
inspired a groan. I think that added to my enjoyment of this article.

~~~
rkuykendall-com
My favorite line:

> Mullen clearly had every intention of throwing the book at Metesky, picking
> it up, dusting it off, and throwing it again.

------
pingou
Why put nuts and bolts in the bomb if he didn't really intent to hurt
somebody?

~~~
IAmGarrett
I thought the same thing. A) The dude clearly had some loose screws. B) He was
convinced his actions were just. After crossing that line, you can justify
plenty of stuff to yourself.

------
bogomipz
There's also this which occurred in NYC in the 70s and remains unsolved:

[http://observer.com/2016/01/why-hasnt-washington-
explained-t...](http://observer.com/2016/01/why-hasnt-washington-explained-
the-1975-laguardia-airport-bombing/)

------
jacquesm
Just imagine the pandemonium that would ensue if something like this would
happen today. "Breaking News" 24/7 for as long as the campaign lasted.

------
rdiddly
One nitpick: Con Ed's plant was _located near_ an actual thing called Hell
Gate, not _nicknamed_ that.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell_Gate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell_Gate)

Also see its namesake bridge, under which seemingly every "dangerous meeting"
scene of every movie ever, was shot.

------
fattire
Damn interesting. Though I didn't quite get the whole dissolving-lozenge-as-a-
timer thing. How would that work?

~~~
Pinckney
Probably a spring-loaded striker which is released once the lozenge has
dissolved sufficiently. British WWII limpet mines used a similar system.

------
waiseristy
The quality of the audio narration is really surprising!! Foley and music!

------
sitkack
I miss the good old days when cops could be cops. Locking people in mental
institutions for 6 months, arresting people and killing them with heart
attacks.

> Also, it was Friday.

------
Kenji
Back when newspapers actually did good, valuable work.

------
necessity
>anti-communist red scare

McCarthism was as much anti-fascist as it was anti-communist, but of course
commies would rewrite history to play the victims. Read the actual laws, it
never mentions communism without mentioning fascism in the same sentence.

~~~
dang
Would you please stop using HN for ideological battle? We ban accounts that do
this because it violates HN's mandate. And we've asked you many times before.

~~~
necessity
I don't want to post about politics either, but people post ideological stuff,
ideological replies should be expected, no? When I started using the website
it was more focused on what it was meant to be, and I don't think I ever
discussed politics then. Then the American elections happened and people
started posting politics all the time. Well, political replies ensue. I flag
posts that are purely political, I don't just reply to them.

~~~
dang
HN has always had a certain amount of political discussion and while you're
right that it fluctuates with external conditions, the core amount of it is
pretty stable. But there's a difference between substantive discussion and
ideological inflammation. Name-calling ("commies") and dismissive swipes
("stop being so defensive") belong to the latter, so please edit such bits out
of your comments here.

The principle is simple: avoid flamebait to reduce flamewars.

~~~
necessity
That's fair, I will be more civil. But I don't think I am able to edit my
comments.

