Police are questioning a knucklehead who had a novelty grenade mailed to his office at Two World Financial Center today, touching off a major terror scare downtown and mass panic that forced the evacuation of two of Manhattan’s signature buildings across the street from the site of the 9/11 attack.
Hundreds of jittery workers were left outside for over an hour after mailroom workers discovered the suspicious package about 10:54 a.m.
People stand outside 2 World Financial Center after the building was evacuated today. (REUTERS)
According to NYPD spokesman Paul Browne, the fake grenade was mounted on a plaque with a sign that read: “Complaint Department, please take a number.”
The package was sent to someone who works for a financial firm in the building. A fire safety officer for Bank of America saw what clearly looked like a grenade, complete with a pin, on an X-ray machine and directed the evacuation and called cops.
The “all clear” announcement came more than an hour the item was delivered into a loading delivery area. One World Financial Center was also evacuated.
Donna Jarvis, 45, a legal secretary who works on the 26th floor of building 2, said the stairs were crowded but people were moving orderly.
“For a second, 9/11 flashed across my mind,” Jarvis said, “but I think we’re in good hands now.”
Law enforcement sources told The Post that the system worked as it should: “It was a poor choice of a delivery place,” a law enforcement source said. “It was stupid.”
Two World Financial Center is one of New York’s largest skyscrapers and is 645 feet tall, making it the second tallest of the four buildings in the World Financial Center complex. It was severely damaged by falling debris when the Twin Towers collapsed on 9/11.
Following the attacks, all mail items coming into World Financial Center are screened.