Bomb Scare at MSK Shuts York Ave for Several Hours

The Upper East Side, which was already on a state of heightened alert following bombs tossed at domonstrators a week earlier, was breathing a sigh of relief after a suspicious package left in the lobby of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center was deemed “non-hazardous.”

Police sealed off traffic for hours on York Ave. between 68th and 69th Streets and summoned the bomb squad after responding to a 911 call about a suspicious package feared to be an explosive device left in the lobby of 1275 York Ave. at the world renowned cancer hospital shortly after noon on March 14.

Police said the device was found to be “non-hazardous” and re-opened York Ave. shortly after 3 p.m. on Saturday.

One report in the Daily News said an ex-employee left the package in the lobby with a note saying it was a bomb, prompting a 911 call shortly after 12 p.m. on March 14. That report said the ex-employee was arrested, but nahisme was not disclosed. The News described the person as a 39-year-old male. Police as of March 15 had not confirmed the arrest.

Sloan Kettering had announced a major layoff of 400 people in September, 2025, amounting to nearly 2% of its workforce as the hospital said it was facing a $200 million deficit in 2026. But it could not be learned if the detained individual was involved in that layoff.

MSK posted on X about the incident on Saturday stating “security personnel identified a potential threat in the lobby at 1275 York Ave. and promptly notified the NYPD. The situation was quickly contained. No injuries were reported, and the NYPD has issued the all-clear. We are grateful for the swift response of our MSK security team and the NYPD.”

Officially an NYPD spokesperson on the evening of March 14 was only saying that a “person of interest was picked up and taken to an area hospital.” The reason the individual was taken to a local hospital was not disclosed and there had been no official update by mid-afternoon on March 15.

It comes as the Upper East Side remains jittery following the March 7 incident in which two teenagers from Pennsylvania were arrested after tossing the IEDs at demonstrators just outside Gracie Mansion.

Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, were apprehended at the scene after the homemade explosive devices failed to detonate.

Both suspects reportedly told investigators that they were supportive of ISIS, a Mid-East terrorist. They were both US citizens but had traveled to the Mideast in recent years.

“This was a planned attack motivated by extremist ideology and inspired by violent foreign terrorist organization,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch at the time.

The scene were the bomb tossing duds were tossed was at the scene of an anti-Muslim demonstration called by right wing provocateur Jack Lang that drew a small crowd estimated to be about 20 people. Lang had been one of Jan. 6 rioters who had been imprisoned awaiting trial when he was pardoned by President Trump. A counter protest of about 120 people showed up with the theme: “Drive the Nazis out of New York.”

The protests were kept in separate areas by police but tensions escalated when police said someone from Lang’s group pepper sprayed the counter protestors.

About 20 minutes later, Balat “threw an ignited device which landed on a crosswalk,” Tisch said, but it quickly extinguished itself. Balat grabbed a second device from Kayumi, but dropped it on the street.

Both were quickly nabbed by the NYPD and face a number of federal charges.