I give a lot of credit to New Yorkers.

[Robb]

This bomb could've bet set in any city in the country, and probably would've burned up before anyone noticed. It was set in New York, and a New Yorker spotted it when it was barely smoking. And we got a lot of evidence because of that.

Sure, a lot of luck was involved in it not going off. But I'm not convinced any other city understands what it actually means to "remain vigilant." Even when you're feeling comfy.

You don't have to live in fear to keep your eyes open. Nice f-ing work, New York. :toast:

[WeDidIt]

1. I think the same would happen in Chicago

but Chicago has a lot in common with New York.

[Bobbieo]

2. Maybe this is a wake-up call for America!!! I remember the sarcasm from yeterday's posts.

New York was lucky the Pakistani was just a novice.

[Jennicut]

3. The street vendor who spotted the car, Duane Jackson, got a call from President Obama

thanking him.


Heroic Times Square T-shirt vendor Lance Orton just 'an average guy'

BY Barry Paddock
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Monday, May 3rd 2010, 10:37 PM

Duane Jackson and proud daughter Tiffany in Times Square Monday just days after Vietnam vet and handbag seller helped alert cops to car bomb. Jackson also got a call from President Obama.

Saving the day is all in the family for Lance Orton, the T-shirt vendor credited with first telling cops about the bomb-packed SUV parked in the heart of Times Square.

His sister is a disaster response expert: Dr. Gina Orton 54, of Virginia, works as a psychiatrist with the Justice Department, counseling law enforcement officers traumatized by the unthinkable.

"My brother could have been killed," Gina Orton said, "and socould have thousands of people. ... It's a horrifying thought."

She's not surprised her brother acted the way he did. After all, he did such a good job looking out for her when they were kids, why shouldn't he now be looking out for all New York?

"He defended me from a lot of dangers and problems," she said. "He was a shield to me, a protector."

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/05/04/2010-05-04_heroic_vendors_just_an_average_guy.html#ixzz0my4rZzgs

[sinkingfeeling]

4. The vendors on Times Square are ex-military guys that have a special license to sell on street.

Makes me very proud of them and NYC.

[JPZenger]

5. I walked by the cop 30 minutes before the bomb was set off

I walked right past the spot where the car bomb was set off 30 minutes beforehand. I saw the cop on horseback who evacuated the area, with a female cop on horseback. The area was extremely crowded. Tourists were trying to take photos of the cops. I remember seeing the face of the male cop - he looked very serious, and was scanning the crowd, as opposed to hamming it up for the tourists.

[Robb]

6. Yeek. That's plenty close enough. nt

[dixiegrrrrl]

7. The response I got in SF after 9-11 was not quite as up to par.

A few weeks after 9-11, while "everyone" was in heightened alert, I was on the BART.
A guy sat down across from my seat, pushed a backpack under the seat, then
jumped up abruptly and RAN out of the car at the next stop, leaving the backpack.
I got out fast, walked up to the front of the train and told the operator what happened.

She said, " Ok, I will have it checked out at the end of the line"

I waited for an hour before I got onto another train heading home.
For all I know, the damn backpack is still there.

Sheesh.