The Mad Bomber of New York (43 page)

Though the explosion was felt
: “Crowd Unaware of Bomb Tragedy,”
New York Times
, July 5, 1940, 2.

Following the World's Fair tragedy
: Esposito and Gerstein,
Bomb Squad
, 277.

“agitators and other suspects”
: “All Police in City on 24-Hour Duty,”
New York Times,
July 5, 1940, 2.

Adopting a more rigorous training program
: “The Twin Towers; Unit Is Oldest and Largest,”
New York Times
, March 4, 1993, B4.

“the world's most dangerous job”
: E. D. Fales Jr., “The Job That Scares Everybody,”
Popular Science
181, no. 1 (July 1962): 67.

“‘maliciously designed to explode'”
: Joseph Carter, “Wanted: The Man without a Face,”
Colliers
, February 3, 1956, 23.

“[E]very problem is a new one”
: Ibid., 56.

Though it was not the best outcome
: Telephone interview with New York City Bomb Squad Detective William F. Schmitt (retired), December 10, 2009.

“It's that one in a hundred”
: Joseph Carter, “Wanted: The Man without a Face,” 23.

Once it was determined that the object
: “Mad Bomber Hits Library,”
New York Daily News
, December 25, 1956, 8.

carried out of the building
: Joseph Carter, “Wanted: The Man without a Face,” 56.

The vehicle, officially named the Pyke-LaGuardia Carrier
: Fales, “The Job That Scares Everybody,” 72.

“designed to take a bomb”
: Esposito and Gerstein,
Bomb Squad
, 277–278.

Removed to the relative safety
: Joseph Carter, “Wanted: The Man without a Face,” 56.

In a typical situation
: Ibid.

To make matters worse
: Brussel,
Casebook
, 48–49. Also see John Douglas and Mark Olshaker,
Unabomber: On the Trail of America's Most-Wanted Serial Killer
(Pocket Books, 1996), 6.

Within the company headquarters
: See, e.g., Brussel,
Casebook
, 14–15.

“The episode was filed and forgotten”
: Ibid., 15.

The ex-convicts and outlaws
: Esposito and Gerstein,
Bomb Squad
, 273.

“Recognizing the inability of the present small force”
: “A Secret Service Squad to Hunt the Black Hand,”
New York Times,
December 20, 1906, 16.

“master bomb-maker for the Black Handers”
: Esposito and Gerstein, Bomb Squad, 274.

“The book is not mine”
: “Get Leaders of Black Hand,”
New York Times
, July 7, 1908, 1.

With America's entry into the war
: Esposito and Gerstein,
Bomb Squad
, 275.

Anxiety over the German espionage campaign
: See Chad Millman,
The Detonators: The Secret Plot to Destroy America and an Epic Hunt for Justice
(Little, Brown, 2006).

In April 1919 militant followers
: Regin Schmidt,
Red Scare: FBI and the Origins of Anticommunism in the United States
(Museum Tusculanum Press, 2000), 148.

a few months later a similar coordinated attack
: “Midnight Bombs for Officials in 8 Cities; Bombers Die at Attorney General's House; Two Victims at Judge Nott's House Here; Bombs in Boston, Cleveland, Pittsburgh,”
New York Times
, June 3, 1919, 1.

Anarchist literature and leaflets
: Ibid.

“REMEMBER WE WILL NOT TOLERATE”
: Beverly Gage,
The Day Wall Street Exploded: A Story of America in Its First Age of Terror
(Oxford University Press, 2009), 171.

“gigantic proportions”
: “The Militants Who Play with Dynamite,”
New York Times
, October 25, 1970, SM20.

“[a] real boom town.”
: Ibid.

Though some sources have concluded
: See, e.g., Brussel,
Casebook
, 14.

“It wasn't loaded”
: James, “The Mad Bomber vs. Con Ed,” 47.

“It was a[n] empty bomb”
: Transcript of Interrogation of George Metesky, January 22, 1957.

Knowing that the writing
: See e.g., Brussel,
Casebook
, 14.

“That first unit was just a sample
: James, “The Mad Bomber vs. Con Ed,” 47.

The ultimate target
: Ibid.

“I was very careful”
: “Riddle of the Mad Bomber's Personality,”
Bridgeport Sunday Post
, January 27, 1957, section B.

With an air of narcissistic and intellectual superiority
: See e.g., Brussel,
Casebook
, 16.

As police detectives duly noted
: Ibid.

“with the compliments of the ‘mobsters'”
: James, “The Mad Bomber vs. Con Ed,” 47.

“was just the kind of unexpected thing”
: Nathan Miller,
FDR: An Intimate History
(Doubleday, 1983), 477.

“I WILL MAKE NO MORE BOMB UNITS”
: Brussel,
Casebook
, 15–16.

CHAPTER II: HELL GATE

By the time of the Great Depression
: “2 Huge Generators Put in Service Here,”
New York Times
, May 30, 1929, 24.

The plant's interior
: Ibid.

“What we are doing here”
: Ibid.

“Cement dust was everywhere”
: “Tells of Injuries at Power Plant,”
New York Journal-American
, January 24, 1957, 5.

According to the plant owners
:
Generating Stations, Hell Gate— Sherman Creek.
Private publication of the United Electric Light and Power Company, 1926.

His position did not utilize
: On his job application, Metesky listed “mechanical work, electrical work, machine shop practice” as the vocations in which he had experience. See “Application for Employment with the United Electric Light and Power Co.,” George Peter Metesky, applicant. December 12, 1929,” NYC Department of Records/Municipal Archives.

As menial as many of his assigned tasks were
: “Report of Psychiatric Examination,” March 1, 1957.

“[He] looks like the usher”
: “Sisters Shocked, Loyal to Brother,”
New York Times
, January 23, 1957, 20.

a “lone wolf”
: “Riddle of the Mad Bomber's Personality.”

“spinsterish air about him”
: “Metesky Taken to N.Y. under a Heavy Guard,”
Bridgeport Telegram
, January 23, 1957, 1.

“schoolteacher”
: “Riddle of the Mad Bomber's Personality.”

“[e]fficient and well liked”
: “Metesky's First Bombing Attempt Turned Out a Dud,”
New York Journal-American
, March 23, 1957, 4.

“[A]nd George would go right after”
: Ibid.

As a child, the younger George
: “Mad Bomber Reveals How Resentment Grew to Hate,”
New York Journal-American
, March 21, 1957, 4.

“George would literally not step”
: Ibid.

She converted “Milauskas” to “Metesky,”
: Brussel,
Casebook
, 66–67.

At any given time the family
: “Father Left Metesky Big Cash Bequest,”
New York Journal-American
, January 28, 1957, 1. See also “Mad Bomber Reveals Kindling of His Hatred,”
New York Journal-American
, March 21, 1957, 1.

“I just had no interest”
: “Report of Psychiatric Examination,” March 1, 1957.

Upon leaving school
: Ibid. See also “Application for Employment.”

“Well, he was a strange one”
: “Mad Bomber Reveals How Resentment Grew to Hate,” 4.

In further pursuit of a technical vocation
: “Application for Employment.”

Several months later
: “Report of Psychiatric Examination,” March 1, 1957.

In an initial two-year tour
: “Mad Bomber Reveals How Resentment Grew to Hate,” 4.

In April 1922 he was honorably discharged
: Ibid.

His record indicated
: Ibid.

During this period, PFC George Metesky
: Transcript of Interrogation of George Metesky, January 22, 1957.

“a dreary, shabby area”
: Brussel,
Casebook
, 66.

the appellation Brass City
: Debbie Harmsen, ed.,
Fodor's New England
(Random House, 2008), 317.

“The house was not loved”
: Brussel,
Casebook
, 66.

It wasn't long, however
: Ibid. See also “Held on 4 Counts, His Sanity Tested,”
New York Herald Tribune
, January 23, 1957, 1.

Content with this reclusive lifestyle
: In “Report of Psychiatric Examination,” March 1, 1957, on the subject of women Metesky was quoted as saying, “Well, I didn't go out much with them because I was always in a foreign country,” referring to his days in the service. The report stated that Metesky could only recall two sexual experiences in his life, both in San Domingo.

CHAPTER III: THE SEEDS OF MADNESS

“Apparently,” recalled Metesky
: “Mad Bomber Reveals How Resentment Grew to Hate,” 4.

“There were over 12,000”
: Letter of George Metesky to the
New York Journal-American
dated January 18, 1957. See “Letters Lead to Bomber's Capture,”
New York Journal-American
, January 22, 1957, 2.

“active pulmonary tuberculosis”
: “Report of Psychiatric Examination,” March 1, 1957.

“like a tourist cabin”
: Transcript of Interrogation of George Metesky, January 22, 1957.

Not two months into his stay
: “Tells of Injuries at Power Plant,” 10.

What remains undisputed, however
: “‘Gush of Fumes' Transformed Gentle Man Into ‘Mad Bomber,'”
Sunday News and Tribune
(Jefferson City, Missouri), January 27, 1957, 2.

Indeed, in his yearly physical examination
: “Report of Medical Examiner, The United Electric and Power Company,” NYC Department of Records/Municipal Archives.

Though there remained no medical proof
: Brussel,
Casebook
, 71.

For six months the company paid him
: The Association of Employees of the United Electric Light and Power Company, Sick Benefit Payroll, Courtesy of NYC Department of Records/Municipal Archives.

By his own estimate
: Transcript of Interrogation of George Metesky, January 22, 1957.

“I asked them to take care of me”
: Ibid.

“the run around”
: “Report of Psychiatric Examination,” March 1, 1957.

New York's workmen's compensation system
: “A World of Hurt for Injured Workers, a Costly Legal Swamp,”
New York Times
, March 31, 2009.

The Lower Manhattan sweatshop
: John M. Hoenig, “The Triangle Fire of 1911,”
History Magazine
(April/May 2005): 20.

Panic-stricken employees encountered
: Ibid.

“the worst work-place fire”
: Ibid.

The political strength of labor unions
: Ibid.

In exchange for this prescribed benefit
: See Linda Hammond-Darling and Thomas J. Kniesner,
The Law and Economics of Worker's Compensation
(Institute for Civil Justice [U.S.] Rand Corporation, 1980), 8.

This policy compromise ensured
: Jack B. Hood, Benjamin A. Hardy, and Harold S. Lewis,
Workers Compensation and Employee Protection Laws in a Nutshell
(Thomson/West, 2005), 29.

Con Ed again asserted section 28
: See “Edison Clerk Finds Case in File,” 18; Transcript of Interrogation of George Metesky, January 22, 1957.

“It took a lot of letter writing”
: Transcript of Interrogation of George Metesky, January 22, 1957.

“fair and honest.”
: “Mad Bomber Reveals How Resentment Grew to Hate,” 4.

“He was a very nice man”
: Transcript of Interrogation of George Metesky, January 22, 1957.

“The referee was going to make an award”
: Ibid.

“I had written thousands of letters”
: “Report of Psychiatric Examination,” March 1, 1957.

He estimated that he had written
: “Bomber Heard on Con Ed TV Show,”
New York Herald Tribune
, January 23, 1957, 5.

“I never received so much as”
: James, “The Mad Bomber vs. Con Ed,” 47.

YOU KNOW, I JUST REFUSE TO BE ROBBED
: Ibid.

“It worked great too”
: “Coddled Bomber, Sisters Admit,”
New York Journal-American
, March 22, 1957, 14.

Later, Metesky rigged a hand-pushed lawnmower
: James, “The Mad Bomber vs. Con Ed,” 47.

he applied for and was ultimately granted
: See United States Patent 2,257,059, “Solenoid Pump,” George P. Metesky, Waterbury, Conn., application July 19, 1938, serial no. 220,082, patented September 23, 1941.

“I had a mission to perform”
: Testimony of Dr. Albert A. LaVerne, on March 27, 1957, during a Section 662a Hearing before Judge Samuel S. Leibowitz, Kings County Court,
The People of New York vs. George Metesky,
indictment no. 269/1957.

He was sure of it
: “Report of Psychiatric Examination,” March 1, 1957.

In his mind's eye
: These images are based upon the Testimony of Dr. Albert A. LaVerne, March 27, 1957.

CHAPTER IV: “SELECTED BY DESTINY”

“We would deprive ourselves”
: “Coddled Bomber, Sisters Admit,” 14.

“classic study in over-protection”
: Ibid.

He would prepare an evening meal
: “Metesky's First Bombing Attempt Turned Out a Dud,” 4. Also see “Report of Psychiatric Examination,” March 1, 1957.

His reclusive lifestyle would later be described
: “Metesky's First Bombing Attempt Turned Out a Dud,” 4.