'Not A Hoax': Device Thrown Near Gracie Mansion Was Explosive, Police Say

NEW YORK CITY — Two devices thrown during dueling protests Saturday outside Gracie Mansion were confirmed Sunday to be explosives, according to authorities, who removed a third suspicious device from a vehicle in the area Sunday.

“The NYPD Bomb Squad has conducted a preliminary analysis of a device that was ignited and deployed at a protest yesterday and has determined that it is not a hoax device or a smoke bomb,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch posted Sunday on social media.

“It is, in fact, an improvised explosive device that could have caused serious injury or death. Further analysis will be conducted, including on a second device.”

The FBI confirmed later Sunday that both devices were improvised explosives.

In connection with the ongoing investigation, New York police announced Sunday they had identified a suspicious device in a vehicle on East End Avenue between 81st and 82nd streets.

"NYPD officers have frozen the area around the vehicle and are conducting limited evacuations of buildings in the vicinity while the Bomb Squad assesses and removes the device," the police department said in a social media post shortly before 5 p.m. Sunday.

Around 7 p.m., police used a flatbed truck to remove a Honda Civic and the streets were reopened.

Emir Balat, 18, was arrested during Saturday's incident, which happened at about 12:30 p.m., Tisch previously said. Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, was also arrested in connection with Saturday's events, Tisch said.

The incident was being investigated as possible terrorism because one of the men referenced ISIS when communicating with law enforcement, according to NBC New York, citing people familiar with the matter. Sources also told the outlet that both men are thought to have traveled to the city from Pennsylvania.

The incident occurred as tensions escalated between protesters taking part in an anti-Islam demonstration led by conservative influencer Jake Lang that drew about 20 people and a counterprotest that yielded roughly 125 people in the area of East End Avenue and 87th Street, Tisch said Saturday.

Balat pulled out a device, which Tisch has described as a jar wrapped in black tape with nuts, bolts and screws, and a hobby fuse that could be lit, about the size of a football. He lit the fuse and threw the item toward protesters, but it hit a police barricade and extinguished itself, Tisch said.

The teen then took off running down East End Avenue and Kayumi handed him a second device, which Balat lit and dropped between 87th and 86th streets, Tisch has said. He was chased and apprehended, Tisch said.

The commissioner said Saturday there was no indication the incident was related to U.S. military actions in Iran, but the investigation was ongoing. The New York City Police Department is working on the case with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the FBI.

A person associated with Lang’s protest was also arrested and charged with reckless endangerment, assault and unlawful possession of a noxious matter after allegedly macing counterprotesters, police said.

In total, six people were arrested Saturday during the protests, Tisch has said.

Gracie Mansion, where the demonstrations occurred, is the official residence of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Saturday's protests took place during the holy month of Ramadan, observed by Muslims around the world. Mamdani is New York City's first Muslim mayor.

"Yesterday, white supremacist Jake Lang organized a protest outside Gracie Mansion rooted in bigotry and racism," Mamdani wrote in a social media post Sunday. "Such hate has no place in New York City. It is an affront to our city’s values and the unity that defines who we are.

"What followed was even more disturbing. Violence at a protest is never acceptable. The attempt to use an explosive device and hurt others is not only criminal, it is reprehensible and the antithesis of who we are."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.