The Mad Bomber of New York (44 page)

Several months later he attempted to enlist
: “Tells of Injuries at Power Plant,” 10. Also see “Report of Psychiatric Examination,” March 1, 1957.

At the same time, he wrote
: “Metesky's First Bombing Attempt Turned Out a Dud,” 4. Also see Memorandum of Interview with Detective Michael Lynch, Badge #866, with Assistant District Attorney Howard Blank dated April 15, 1957, NYC Department of Records/Municipal Archives.

“He was a person who always was ready”
: “Metesky's First Bombing Attempt Turned Out a Dud,” 4.

“after much discussion and medical examinations”
: “Tells of Injuries at Power Plant,” 10.

Despite this discord, Metesky eagerly worked
: Ibid.

Finally, in December 1943
: “Report of Psychiatric Examination,” March 1, 1957.

a state-run facility
: See Special Acts of the State of Connecticut, House Bill No. 390, approved July 28, 1909.

“miserable and lonely”
: “Tells of Injuries at Power Plant,” 10.

A few months later he was re-examined
: “Report of Psychiatric Examination,” March 1, 1957.

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

“unknown man battling for justice”
: “Metesky's First Bombing Attempt Turned Out a Dud,” 4.

He would later admit to planting
: See “George Did It,”
Time
, February 4, 1957. Also see “Report of Psychiatric Examination,” March 1, 1957. There, Metesky is quoted as claiming that he planted fifty-seven bombs. Also see Transcript of Interrogation of George Metesky, January 22, 1957; and “Metesky's First Bombing Attempt Turned Out a Dud,” 4.

“the world had done him wrong”
: Brussel,
Casebook
, 30.

Alone against a vast conspiratorial network
: See psychiatric notes contained in files of New York County Supreme Court, “The People of the State of New York against George P. Metesky, a/k/a George Milauskas, Indictment No. 321/1957,” NYC Department of Records/ Municipal Archives.

“[H]is fury of hatred so enveloped”
: Testimony of Dr. Albert A. LaVerne, March 27, 1957.

he had become convinced
: Ibid.

CHAPTER V: “A MAN WITH A HAMMER”

The terminal had been used
: John Belle and Maxine R. Leighton,
Grand Central: Gateway to a Million Lives
(W. W. Norton and Company, 2000), 84.

At the arched entrance
: Fremont Rider,
Rider's New York City: A Guide-Book for Travelers
(Henry Holt and Company, 1916), 114.

Covering seventy-nine acres
: Ibid.

the station, at various times
: See
www.grandcentralterminal.com/info/terminalopens.cfm
accessed September 2, 2009.

“greatest railway terminal in the world”
: Rider,
Rider's New York City
, 114.

such famous long-distance trains
: See
www.grandcentralterminal.com/info/terminalopens.cfm
accessed September 2, 2009.

With the advent of postwar suburban life
: See
www.grandcentralterminal.com/info/grandcentraldecline.cfm
accessed September 2, 2009.

Among the many legends
: Rider,
Rider's New York City
, 115.

Created by the low ceramic structures
: Belle and Leighton,
Grand Central
, 84.

“boys or pranksters”
: “Bomb Blast in Terminal,”
New York Times
, March 30, 1951, 24.

It did not contain a pipe casing:
“Series of ‘Pipe Bombs.'”

Metesky knew that the “throat disc”
: Transcript of Interrogation of George Metesky, January 22, 1957.

A spoonful of water
: “Metesky Tells How Lozenges Set Off Bombs,”
New York Journal-American
, January 27, 1957, 3.

Once the disc sufficiently dissolved
: Ibid. See also Transcript of Interrogation of George Metesky, January 22, 1957. Also, telephone interview with William F. Schmitt, December 10, 2009.

“the rough stuff”
: James, “The Mad Bomber vs. Con Ed,” 47.

“I've read,” Metesky would later say
: Ibid.

Every so called unit
: Testimony of James B. Leggett, Chief of Detectives, Police Department of the City of New York, 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.

At 6:10 in the evening
: “Series of ‘Pipe Bombs.'”

Bomb squad detectives immediately saw
: “Bomb Goes Off in Library,”
New York Times
, April 25, 1951, 31.

The New York City police downplayed
: “Bomb Laid to Prankster,”
New York Times
, September 13, 1951, 33.

“This is a well constructed mechanism”
: “Police Files Tell Weird Details of Bomber's History,”
New York Journal-American
, December 30, 1956, 6.

“It would ‘just build up'”
: “Bomb Laid to Prankster,” 33.

“They got some stupid advice”
: James, “The Mad Bomber vs. Con Ed,” 48.

The package, postmarked “White Plains, NY”
: Transcript of Interrogation of George Metesky, January 22, 1957.

“The weirdie patently pulled”
: “Bomber's Erratic Timing Baffling,”
New York Journal-American
, March 24, 1957, 2.

On October 22, 1951, a longshoremen's strike
: “Rail Goods Embargoed; Dock Strike Closes Port,”
New York Herald Tribune
, October 23, 1951, 1; “Rail Embargo Set as Dock Strikers Tie Up Port Here,”
New York Times
, October 23, 1951, 1.

at the White House an announcement
: “Reds Set Off Third Atom Blast, Indicating They Have Stockpile,”
New York Herald Tribune
, October 23, 1951, 1; “White House Announces Russian Detonation and Foresees New Ones,”
New York Times
, October 23, 1951, 1.

“BOMBS WILL CONTINUE
”
: “Police Find Bomb in Paramount Lounge; Note Spurs Search for One at Penn Station,”
New York Times
, October 23, 1951, 30.

As 3,600 unwitting patrons
: Ibid.

Following the lead of a former New York City fire marshal
: “16 Year Search for Madman,”
New York Times
, December 25, 1956, 31.

“one in whom flashes of lunacy”
: Ibid.

“This defendant is a particular source”
: “Sugar Bomb Suspect Is Sent to Bellevue,”
New York Times
, November 8, 1951, 19.

The suspect, who silently looked on
: Ibid.

“He has been sending simulated bombs”
: Ibid.

He was considered by police
: “Laborer Says Bomb Solution Vindicates Him,”
New York Journal-American
, January 24, 1957, 2.

“This arrest is an outrage”
: “Sugar Bomb Suspect Is Sent to Bellevue,” 19.

“They were the most harrowing days”
: “Laborer Says Bomb Solution Vindicates Him,” 2.

“With horns silenced”
: “Raid Test Silences City in 2 Minutes; Officials Pleased,”
New York Times
, November 29, 1951, 1.

“pattern for survival”
: “Air-Raid Test Better Than City Expected,”
New York Herald Tribune
, November 29, 1951, 1.

“sounded like a stick of dynamite”
: “Bomb Is Exploded in Union Sq. I.R.T.,”
New York Herald Tribune
, November 29, 1951, 1.

“TO HERALD TRIBUNE EDITOR”
: Brussel,
Casebook
, 17.

On May 15, 1952
: “‘Bomb' Case Dismissed,”
New York Times
, May 16, 1952, 7.

Bomb squad detectives
: Esposito and Gerstein,
Bomb Squad
, 279. Citing
Cue Magazine
, Esposito and Gerstein state that the move was required because the vibrations from the subway running beneath police headquarters on Centre Street—the original police lab location—upset the delicate instruments used by the technicians.

“He buys an admission ticket”
: Joseph Carter, “Wanted: The Man without a Face,” 56.

A woman, innocently watching”
: “Bomber's Erratic Timing Baffling,” 2.

The “sweeping arches” and “choral staircases”
: See
www.radiocity.com/about/history.html
, accessed September 16, 2009.

“Everything about Radio City Music Hall”
: Richard Alleman,
New York: The Movie Lover's Guide: The Ultimate Insider Tour of Movie New York
(Harper and Row Publishers, 2005), 54.

“American People's Palace”
: See
www.radiocity.com/about/history.html
, accessed September 16, 2009.

The hall initially opened in 1932
: Richard Alleman,
New York: The Movie Lover's Guide
, 54.

hundreds of film classics
: Ibid.

“virtually [guaranteeing] a successful run”
: See
www.radiocity.com/about/history.html
, accessed September 16, 2009.

a “funny” sound
: Transcript of Interrogation of George Metesky, January 22, 1957.

“[It] sounded like a rocket”
: James, “The Mad Bomber vs. Con Ed,” 47.

“We're sorry about this”
: Brussel,
Casebook
, 19.

He smiled and whispered
: James, “The Mad Bomber vs. Con Ed,” 48.

The morning newspapers played down
: “Psychopath's Bomb Pops in Music Hall, Burns Coat,”
New York Herald Tribune
, March 11, 1953, 19.

The
Herald Tribune
attributed the bomb
: Ibid.

a “publicity-seeking jerk” and a “mental case.”
: “A Homemade Bomb Rips Station Locker,”
New York Times
, May 7, 1953, 28.

“EDITOR + STAFF OF N.Y. HERALD TRIBUNE”
: See
New York Herald Tribune
, December 28, 1956, 4.

“careful and wary as a cat”
: “The Mad Bomber's Story Reveals Odd Personality,”
New York Journal-American
, March 20, 1957, 7.

Nervously, Metesky had settled the bomb
: Brussel,
Casebook
, 24.

“I thought my number was up”
: “The Mad Bomber's Story Reveals Odd Personality,” 7.

A blast in the lower-level men's washroom
: “Bomb Injures 3 in Grand Central,”
New York Times
, March 17, 1954, 33.

“fervor of excitement”
: “Bomb Lets Go at Terminal,”
Charleston Gazette
(West Virginia), March 17, 1954, 1.

“My ears are still deaf”
: “Bomb Explodes in Grand Central Station, Hurts 2,”
Lebanon Daily News
(Pennsylvania), March 17, 1954, 1.

“crude, home-made time bomb”
: “Bomb in Music Hall Injures 4 in Crowd,”
New York Times
, November 8, 1954, 1.

“as if a big electric bulb”
: “Bomb in the Music Hall Hurts Four in Audience,”
New York Herald Tribune
, November 8, 1954, 1.

“All seats were taken”
: Ibid.

Within moments of the blast
: Ibid.

A Port Authority attendant
: “Bomb Explodes in 8th Ave. Bus Terminal, Scares Many Commuters, Hurts No One,”
New York Times
, November 29, 1954, 11.

They began calling him the “Mad Bomber”
: The name “Mad Bomber” appears to have been originated by Justin Gilbert in an article found in the May 4, 1955, issue of the
New York Daily Mirror
. He wrote, “A mad bomber, so diabolically clever that he has consistently thwarted the best detectives, has planted hundreds of bombs all over mid-Manhattan for 15 years—and still is on the loose . . .” “City Hunts Mad Bomb Planter,”
New York Daily Mirror
, May 4, 1955, 1.

CHAPTER VI: CHASING SHADOWS

Clearly torn between their responsibility
: “Penn Station Blast Is Ignored by Commuters,”
New York Times
, January 12, 1955, 11.

The effusive
New York Daily News
: “Bomb Goes Off, Panics LI Rush-Hour Throng,”
New York Daily News
, January 12, 1955, 3.

And, in a clear attempt to compromise
: “Penn Station Bomb Startles Commuters,”
New York Herald Tribune,
January 12, 1955, 1.

“to get even with the Consolidated Edison Co.”
: “Radio City Bomb Found to Be Deadly,”
New York Journal-American
, May 3, 1955, 4.

An option that earlier had been considered
: Telephone interview with William F. Schmitt, December 10, 2009.

With the device open
: “Here's How Terrorist Makes His Explosives,”
New York Journal-American
, December 28, 1956, 2.

“lethal weapon”
: “City Hunts Mad Bomb Planter,” 30.

The
New York Journal-American
chillingly proclaimed
: “Radio City Bomb Found to Be Deadly,” 4.

the front page banner headline
: “City Hunts Mad Bomb Planter,” 1.

And across America
: “Mad Bomber Being Hunted In New York,”
Alton Evening Telegraph
, May 4, 1955, 15 (AP).

From a detailed study of the bombings
: “City Hunts Mad Bomb Planter,” 3.

Following the second Radio City incident
: Ibid., 30.

“You are dealing with a man”
: Joseph Carter, “Wanted: The Man without a Face,” 56.

“I personally have taken”
: Ibid.

“once spent a solid day”
: Ibid.

“The whole inside of the booth”
: “Porter Is Injured,”
New York Journal-American
, February 22, 1956, 5.