New York, NY – While law enforcement officials have been working around the clock to crack the Times Square car bomb case, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been busy saying thank you to a whole lot of people.
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He’s dined with the police officer who cleared the streets on Saturday night, appeared on national television with a street vendor credited with alerting authorities to the car bomb. And on Tuesday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg paid a visit to a Midtown firehouse to thank firefighters who responded to the explosives-packed SUV.
He says they did exactly what they have been trained to do and knew not to apply any water to the smoking vehicle.
“Their quick thinking and restraint preserved important evidence, evidence that could be very significant in the ongoing investigation of this act,” said the mayor.
The firefighters were hardly the only recipients of his gratitude, especially given the arrest late Monday night of Faisal Shahzad, a U.S. citizen from Pakistan who is accused of carrying out the failed attack.
For that, a thank you went to the New York City Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents and all other local, state, city, and federal authorities who played a role in apprehending the suspect.
“They have been on the job around-the-clock since Saturday night and the fact that they cracked the case so quickly I think is a testament to their professionalism and their patriotism,” Bloomberg said.
But regarding that arrest, the mayor issued a warning, saying he won’t tolerate any bias or backlash against Pakistani or Muslim New Yorkers.
Lance Orton, a T-shirt vendor who sounded the alarm Saturday when he saw the smoking car, was also on hand Tuesday but shied away from being labeled a hero.
“I just wanted to say, on behalf of everybody, thank you,” Orton said. “I just do what I do. I don’t feel like one, I just did what I always do,” Orton said.
Despite the latest developments in the case, the mayor emphasized that the investigation is ongoing. He says there is still plenty of work to be done.
I love how the media is looking for something negative on the mayor when the mayor did an excellent job handling this. I dont like many of the mayor’s policies, but he did an amazing job and need to give credit when credit is due. Shame on the news to find something bad to say on this matter.
So it was a angry white guy upset about the health care bill after all as the mayor claimed or maybe it was someone upset that salt wasn’t banned yet in NYC?
Still no dinner with the street vendors involved. Im telling you, he is a liberal rich snob who wouldn’t be caught dead with a poor boy.
i think it is very important to show appreciation to people who get involved. more and more people do not want to be involved and would just walk by and ignore it. thank goodness the t shirt vendor was willing to get involved. he does deserve our appreciation. matter of fact , he should ahve a tshirt made with is picture and the mayor and the caption should read ”i got involved”
Mayor Bloomberg should apologize for his frankly stupid remark that some angry white guy upset with health care tea partyer did it (that’s basically what he said). Can you imagine if someone said it was a muslim who did it and was wrong, I can’t!
I bet 25 cents that it’s someone who’s upset about all those stupid pedestrian islands that may comfort a few tourist but inconvenient all the people who actually work and live in the city.
All thanks should go to the street vendor and all others did their job. I would only thank them if they prevent it in the first place. Not after being tipped off by this vendor.
it was more luck than brains.Hashem was watching out for us…