List of terrorist incidents in New York City
Appearance
New York City, the largest and most populous city in the United States,[1][2][3] has been the target of numerous acts of terrorism throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. The city, in particular, was one of the targets of the September 11 attacks, the single deadliest terrorist attack in history, which saw the destruction of the World Trade Center and the loss of 2,753 lives.[4][5] The most recent fatal terrorist incident was a vehicle-ramming attack in Lower Manhattan, which killed eight people and injured eleven on October 31, 2017.[6]
Incidents
20th century
Date | Method | Perpetrator | Motive | K | I | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
July 4, 1914 | Bombing | Premature explosion of bombs stored by Anarchist Black Cross | Planned to blow up John D. Rockefeller's home in Tarrytown, New York | 4 | 20 | A large quantity of dynamite, which was apparently being used to construct a bomb to blow up John D. Rockefeller's Tarrytown home, exploded prematurely at a new seven-story model tenement on Lexington Avenue in East Harlem, Manhattan, killing three conspirators and another renter who was not part of the bomb plot.[7] |
September 16, 1920 | Bombing (animal-borne) | Unknown; suspected to be Galleanist anarchists | Possible revenge for the arrests of Sacco and Vanzetti and/or the deportation of Luigi Galleani | 38 | 143 | A bomb exploded on September 16, 1920, in the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City. The blast killed 38 people and seriously injured 143, and the total number of injured was in the hundreds.[8] The bombing was never solved, although investigators and historians believe the Wall Street bombing was carried out by Galleanists (Italian anarchists), a group responsible for a series of bombings the previous year.[9] |
1940 to 1956 | Bombings | George Metesky | Resent toward old workplace injury | 0 | 15 | Between 1940 and 1956, Metesky planted at least 33 bombs, of which 22 exploded, injuring 15 people. He had been angry and resentful about events surrounding a workplace injury suffered years earlier.[10] |
July 27 to November 12, 1969 | Bombings | Sam Melville | Anti-war activism[11] | 0 | 20 | Melville committed a series of eight bombings on various buildings in New York City in 1969.[11] Most of these bombs detonated during the night and did not injure anyone,[11] but one bombing occurred on the 8th floor of the Marine Midland Building in the Financial District on August 20, 1969, injuring 20 people.[12] |
March 6, 1970 | Bombing | Weather Underground | Planned to blow up sites in the New York area as part of opposition to Vietnam War | 3 | 2 | On March 6, 1970, a bomb being assembled by American radical left group Weather Underground accidentally exploded at West 11th Street in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, killing three members and injuring two other members.[13] |
January 24, 1975 | Bombing | FALN | Retaliation for bombing in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico | 4 | 50+ | A bomb planted in Fraunces Tavern in the Financial District exploded on January 24, 1975, killing four people and injuring more than 50 others. The Puerto Rican freedom fighters "Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional Puertorriqueña" (Armed Forces of Puerto Rican National Liberation, or FALN), which had executed other bomb incidents in New York in the 1970s, claimed responsibility. No one had been prosecuted for the bombing as of April 17, 2013.[14][15] |
December 29, 1975 | Bombing | Unknown | Unknown | 11 | 74 | A bomb near the TWA baggage reclaim terminal in LaGuardia Airport in East Elmhurst, Queens, killed 11 and seriously injured 74. The bombing was never solved, with several suggested perpetrators, although investigators and historians believe that Croatian nationalists were the most likely.[16] |
September 11, 1976 | Bombing | Croatian nationalists | Sought Croatian independence from Yugoslavia | 1 | 30 | A group of Croatian nationalists planted a bomb in a coin locker at Grand Central Terminal on September 11, 1976. The group also hijacked TWA Flight 355. After stating their political demands, they revealed the location and provided the instructions for disarming the Grand Central Terminal bomb. The disarming operation was not executed properly and the resulting explosion wounded over 30 and killed one NYPD bomb squad specialist.[17][18] |
February 26, 1993 | Truck bombing | Ramzi Yousef, Eyad Ismoil, other co-conspirators | Islamic terrorism | 6 | 1,042 | On February 26, 1993, a 1,336-pound (606 kg) urea nitrate–hydrogen gas enhanced device[19] was detonated at the World Trade Center by Ramzi Yousef and Eyad Ismoil, with the intent of sending the North Tower (Tower 1) crashing into the South Tower (Tower 2), thus bringing both towers down and killing tens of thousands of people.[20][21] in vengeance for America's support for Israel against Palestine.[22] It failed to do so but killed six people and injured over a thousand.[23] |
March 1, 1994 | Shooting | Rashid Baz | lone wolf anti-Semitism | 1 | 3 | On March 1, 1994, Lebanese-born immigrant Rashid Baz shot at a van of 15 Chabad-Lubavitch Orthodox Jewish students that was traveling on the Brooklyn Bridge, killing one and injuring three others.[24] |
February 23, 1997 | Shooting | Ali Hassan Abu Kamal | anti-Zionism | 2 | 6 | On February 23, 1997, Kamal, a 69-year-old Palestinian teacher, opened fire on the observation deck of the Empire State Building in Midtown Manhattan The gunman killed one person and wounded six others before taking his own life with a gunshot to the head. |
21st century
Date | Method | Perpetrator | Motive | K | I | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
September 11, 2001 | Aircraft hijacking, suicide attack | Al-Qaeda | Islamic terrorism | 2,996 | 6,000+ | American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 respectively hijacked and flown into buildings one and two (the "twin towers") of the World Trade Center. The towers subsequently collapsed due to structural weakening from the impact and subsequent fire. The attack remains the deadliest terrorist attack in world history.[4][5] |
March 6, 2008 | Bombing | Unknown | Unknown | 0 | 0 | Improvised explosive device detonated in front of a United States Armed Forces recruiting station in Times Square; perpetrator is unknown.[25][26] |
May 20, 2009 | Attempted bombing and military attack | "Newburgh Four" | Islamic terrorism, antisemitism | 0 | 0 | Four men arrested in connection to a plot to shoot down military airplanes at Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh, New York, and bomb two synagogues in the Bronx suburb of Riverdale.[27][28] |
May 1, 2010 | Attempted bombing | Faisal Shahzad | Islamic terrorism | 0 | 0 | Failed car bombing of Times Square, after the device failed to detonate and was disarmed after its discovery. Shahzad was implicated and arrested two days later.[29][30][31][32] |
October 23, 2014 | Stabbing attack | Zale H. Thompson | Islamic terrorism | 1 | 3 | Hatchet attack on four New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers in Jamaica, Queens; two officers were injured in the attack, while a passer-by was injured and the perpetrator killed in the ensuing shoot-out.[33][34] |
December 20, 2014 | Shooting | Ismaaiyl Abdullah Brinsley | Anti-police sentiment | 3 | 0 | Ambush of two NYPD officers, Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu. Done out of hatred of police following the shootings of Eric Garner and Michael Brown by police officers. The suspect committed suicide after the killings.[35] |
April 2, 2015 | Attempted bombing | Asia Siddiqui and Noelle Velentzas | Islamic terrorism | 0 | 0 | Siddiqui and Velentzas arrested for conspiring to carry out a pressure cooker bombing in New York City, in support of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and the Islamic State, respectively.[36][37] |
June 13, 2015 | Attempted bombing | Munther Omar Saleh, Fareed Mumuni, third undisclosed | Islamic terrorism | 0 | 0 | Saleh, Mumuni, and third unnamed conspirator arrested in connection to a plot to carry out a pressure cooker bombing in New York City in support of the Islamic State.[38][39][40] |
September 17, 2016 | Bombing | Ahmad Khan Rahimi | Islamic terrorism | 0 | 31 | Shrapnel-filled pressure cooker bomb detonated in a crowded space on West 23rd Street, between Sixth Avenue and Seventh Avenue, as part of a series of bombings in New York and New Jersey.[41][42][43] |
March 20, 2017 | Stabbing attack | James Harris Jackson | White supremacy | 1 | 0 | Stabbing of African American man Timothy Caughman by James Harris Jackson with a sword-like-object as the intended first victim of a planned rampage targeting African American men. Jackson, however, turned himself to police after Caughman's murder instead.[44][45][46] |
October 31, 2017 | Vehicle-ramming attack | Sayfullo Saipov | Islamic terrorism | 8 | 15 | Flatbed pickup truck driven into pedestrians and cyclists down the West Street section of the West Side Highway, starting from Houston Street and ending with a collision with a school bus at Chambers Street.[6] |
December 11, 2017 | Attempted suicide attack | Ullah Akayed | 0 | 4 | The New York City Police Department took a suspect into custody, a "would-be suicide bomber" with wires attached to himself, who was armed with a pipe bomb and a battery pack. The device partially detonated in the New York City Subway's Times Square–42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal station.[47] |
References
- ^ CNNMoney staff (March 25, 2011). "America's 5 biggest cities". CNNMoney. Time Warner. Archived from the original on November 1, 2017. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
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- ^ Politifact staff (2011). "The 50 largest cities in the United States". PolitiFact. Tampa Bay Times (Times Publishing Company). Archived from the original on November 1, 2017. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
- ^ a b Plumer, Brad (September 11, 2013). "Nine facts about terrorism in the United States since 9/11". The Washington Post. Nash Holdings LLC. Archived from the original on October 31, 2017. Retrieved October 31, 2017.
- ^ a b CNN Library staff (August 24, 2017). "September 11th Terror Attacks Fast Facts". CNN. Turner Broadcasting System (Time Warner). Archived from the original on October 31, 2017. Retrieved October 31, 2017.
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has generic name (help) - ^ a b Barron, James (October 31, 2017). "What We Know and Don't Know About the Attack in Lower Manhattan". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Archived from the original on October 31, 2017. Retrieved October 31, 2017.
- ^ "Exploded in Apartment Occupied by Tarrytown Disturbers. Only One Escaped Alive" (PDF). The New York Times. July 5, 1914. Retrieved December 30, 2007.
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- ^ Avrich, Paul (1991). Sacco and Vanzetti: The Anarchist Background. pp. 213, 227. ISBN 978-0-691-02604-6.
- ^ "15 WERE INJURED BY BOMB BLASTS; 33 Devices, of Which 22 Went Off, Were Planted Here Over 16-Year Period Two Hurt at Terminal List of Bomb Sites". The New York Times. 1957. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
- ^ a b c Allyn, Bobby (August 27, 2009). "1969, a Year of Bombings". The New York Times. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
- ^ "BLAST RIPS BANK IN FINANCIAL AREA; 20 Hurt at Marine Midland -- 'Device' is Blamed" (PDF). The New York Times. August 21, 1969. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
- ^ Robinson, Douglas (March 7, 1970). "Townhouse Razed By Blast and Fire; Man's Body Found". The New York Times. Retrieved December 5, 2007.
- ^ Mara Bovsun (January 21, 2012). "Justice Story: FALN bomb kills 4 at Fraunces Tavern, where George Washington said farewell to troops". NY Daily News. Retrieved April 17, 2013.
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- ^ Joseph T. McCann. Terrorism on American soil : a concise history of plots and perpetrators from the famous to the forgotten. pp. 119–121. ISBN 9781591810490.
- ^ "Skyjackings: Bombs for Croatia". Time. September 20, 1976. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
- ^ Katz, Samuel M. (2002). Relentless Pursuit: The DSS and the Manhunt for the Al-Qaeda Terrorists. New York: Forge/Tom Doherty Associates. p. 82. ISBN 0-7653-0402-3.
- ^ Whitlock, Craig (July 5, 2005). "Homemade, Cheap and dangerous – Terror Cells Favor from Simple Ingredients In Building Bombs". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 9, 2009.
- ^ Childers, J. Gilmore; Henry J. DePippo (February 24, 1998). "Senate Judiciary Committee Hearings: Foreign Terrorists in America: Five Years After the World Trade Center". US Senate Judiciary Committee. Archived from the original on December 27, 2007. Retrieved January 8, 2008.
- ^ Glanz, James; Lipton, Eric (January 21, 2014). City in the Sky: The Rise and Fall of the World Trade Center. Times Books. ISBN 9781466863071.
- ^ Wright, Lawrence (August 8, 2006). The Looming Tower. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. p. 178. ISBN 9780307266088.
- ^ "FBI 100 First Strike: Global Terror in America". FBI.gov. Retrieved September 8, 2011.
- ^ Murphy, Mary (March 1, 2011). "Back at Police Plaza, Bratton and Miller recall 20th anniversary of Brooklyn Bridge shooting". WPIX.
- ^ Baker, Al (March 7, 2008). "In Times Square Blast, Echoes of Earlier Bombings". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Archived from the original on November 1, 2017. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
- ^ CBS News and Associated Press staff (April 15, 2015). "FBI, NYPD offer $115K reward in unsolved 2008 Times Square bombing". CBS News. CBS Corporation. Archived from the original on November 1, 2017. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
- ^ Hernandez, Javier C.; Chan, Sewell (May 21, 2009). "N.Y. Bomb Plot Suspects Acted Alone, Police Say". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Archived from the original on November 1, 2017. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
- ^ Wilson, Michael (May 21, 2009). "In Bronx Bomb Case, Missteps Caught on Tape". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Archived from the original on November 1, 2017. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
- ^ Baker, Al; Rashbaum, William K. (May 1, 2010). "Police Find Car Bomb in Times Square". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Archived from the original on November 1, 2017. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
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has generic name (help) - ^ BBC News staff (May 2, 2010). "Car bomb found in New York's Times Square". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on November 1, 2017. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
- ^ Mazzetti, Mark; Tavernise, Sabrina; Healy, Jack (May 4, 2010). "Suspect, Charged, Said to Admit to Role in Plot". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Archived from the original on November 1, 2017. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
- ^ Prokupecz, Shimon; Conlon, Kevin (November 5, 2014). "NYPD: Hatchet attack an act of terror". CNN. Turner Broadcasting System (Time Warner). Archived from the original on November 1, 2017. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
- ^ Kearney, Laila (October 24, 2014). "NYC police say hatchet attack by Islam convert was terrorism". Reuters. Thomson Reuters Corporation. Archived from the original on December 23, 2017. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
- ^ Mueller, Benjamin; Baker, Al (December 20, 2014). "2 N.Y.P.D. Officers Killed in Brooklyn Ambush; Suspect Commits Suicide". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 13, 2020.
- ^ Clifford, Stephanie (April 2, 2015). "Two Women in Queens Are Charged With a Bomb Plot". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Archived from the original on November 1, 2017. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
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- ^ Mueller, Benjamin (June 16, 2015). "College Student in Queens Is Charged With Conspiring to Support ISIS". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Archived from the original on November 1, 2017. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
- ^ Schleifer, Theodore (June 19, 2015). "Second American arrested in ISIS-linked NYC bomb plot". CNN. Turner Broadcasting System (Time Warner). Archived from the original on November 1, 2017. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
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- ^ Santora, Marc; Goldman, Adam (November 1, 2017). "Ahmad Khan Rahami Was Inspired by Bin Laden, Charges Say". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Archived from the original on November 1, 2017. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
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