A tense few minutes at one of New York’s premier cancer hospitals turned out to be a false alarm on Saturday, after a former employee allegedly dropped a bag in the main lobby of Memorial Sloan Kettering’s York Avenue hospital, told staff it held a bomb, and set off an evacuation and heavy police response. Officers swept the area, briefly closed the building to visitors and patients while they checked the item, and hospital officials later said no one was injured.
What Happened
Staffers spotted a note on the abandoned bag claiming it was a bomb and quickly alerted hospital security, which called in the NYPD, including the department’s Emergency Service Unit. After a careful check, officers determined the bag was holding a statue made of cement, not an explosive, and took a man into custody nearby, as reported by New York Daily News.
“The situation was quickly contained and no one was harmed,” Memorial Sloan Kettering said, according to New York Daily News. The hospital did not immediately share more information about the person who was taken into custody.
Where It Happened
The scare unfolded at Memorial Sloan Kettering’s main hospital campus at 1275 York Avenue near East 68th Street, in the heart of the Upper East Side medical corridor, per the center’s location page. Memorial Sloan Kettering maintains visitor and security protocols for potential threats and coordinates responses with city agencies, according to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Police And Legal Status
Police said the former employee was taken into custody and that charges were pending while the investigation continued. Detectives were interviewing witnesses, reviewing surveillance footage, and processing the scene, and hospital operations resumed once authorities cleared the area.
The incident landed during a stretch of explosive-related scares in the city this month, heightening public jitters and scrutiny of how threats are handled. Officials urged anyone with information to contact the NYPD tip line.
