Van Explodes In Brooklyn

NY1 ^ | 3/24/02 | NY1

[M. Thatcher]

A parked van exploded in Borough Park, Brooklyn, this morning as the owner was getting inside. Police are still investigating, but authorities say there are no early indications it was a terrorist attack.

Police say the vehicle exploded around 11:15 a.m., near the corner of 16th Avenue and 42nd Street in the Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of Borough Park. Witnesses told the Associated Press that the man was thrown from the van onto the street and that it appeared part of his right leg had been blown off.

The victim, Sruli Halberstam, an Hasidic Jewish man in his 40s, was taken to Bellevue Hospital in critical condition.

The block is closed off, and a bomb squad is using a special robot to comb through the wreckage of the blast.

Many residents of the Orthodox neighborhood said they are worried the blast may be an attack related to the violence in the Middle East. However, local Assemblyman Dov Hikind said police told him a car bomb was most likely planted as part of a personal vendetta.

Police are expected to hold a news conference soon to release more information.

Check back with NY1.com for more information as this story develops.

[monkeywrench]

Maybe they knew something about the pardon of the four Jewish men who set up the phoney Hasidic school and took about 40(?) mil.

[M. Thatcher]

now you know why people want to blow them up.

Oh, okay.

Thanks, Osama.

[rebdov]

"the way Lubavichers in America interact with Jews who choose not to live the way they do, to understand why they are not especially well liked"

The Lubavitchers are tthe only group that actively brings in ANY type of Jew. They have the most far reaching program for the unaffiliated than any other group! What other group sends young men to Bangkok to make a Passover Seder for the Israeli non-religious tourists there? Who else goes to every corner of Russia to help ANY type of Jew. Or to Morocco, or South Africa, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong,etc. Lubavitch discriminates against NO ONE! More bigotry!

[Hildy]

I said this was my experience. And yes, I do understand why people hate Americans, but I don't condone murderous actions.

[ninonitti]

Any of you guys ever hear about the Russian Mafia?

That was my thought immediately....of course I just watched a show on the russian mob. Still can't get over the "blue" alcohol scam they ran and the resulting profits and their ruthless business practices.

[wingnuts'nbolts]

Even so, blowing up someone's vehicle because you don't like them is a terrorist act.

[Ben Bolt]

Hmm , I heard there might be a Russian or 2 ..

[nyconse]

I think it is very likely that it was a terrorist bombing. I have no doubt if we don't wipe those terrorists off the face of the earth- including the ones in Israel and so called "Palastine- in five years, Americans will live as the Iraelis do now. These Islamic warriors desire a Muslim world: no Jews and no Christians.

[theDentist]

Oops, mea culpa. Though I imagine most mobsters would take a refusal to pay protection as a personal affront... or a convenient excuse.

[coydog]

What makes them think the 270-million odd people in the US who aren't of their persuasion will stand by for that? We've been tolerant up to a point, but sooner or later will come that last intolerable act.

[csvset]

Perhaps ol' boy was the "terrorist".

Source

Man Hurt by Bomb in B'klyn
Cops rule out terror

By ALICE McQUILLAN, DEREK ROSE and GREG WILSON
Daily News Staff Writers

bomb blew off part of a Brooklyn man's leg yesterday as he got into a rented van in front of his Borough Park home — a mysterious blast that rattled the close-knit Jewish neighborhood.

	An investigator retrieves evidence from van rented by Israel Halberstam.

As electronics store owner Israel Halberstam fought for his life, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly ruled out terrorism. He said cops were looking into whether a "personal dispute" was behind the explosion, and that someone torched the merchant's rented car last month.

"There's no indication at this time that it is any kind of terrorist attack," said Kelly.

Sources said detectives had found possible bomb-making materials in Halberstam's toolbox — and hadn't ruled out the possibility he was transporting the bomb when it detonated. They also were looking into reports that Halberstam had money problems, the sources said.

The incident unfolded about 11:15 a.m. when Halberstam, 46, left his house on 42nd St., near 16th Ave. to go to work, and opened the door to his rented Dodge Caravan.

Victim Wasn't Moving

The neighborhood was then rocked by an explosion that sent Halberstam flying, severing his right leg below the knee.

"The guy wasn't moving," said Zbigniew Kustra, 51, a neighbor. "His hair and beard were burned, and it looked like he wasn't breathing."

The married father of five was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he was in critical condition with facial and lung burns last night.

Kelly said the bomb was "fairly sophisticated" and was in some kind of package, but not planted inside the green van.

The commissioner said police were investigating how the device was detonated, but said it wasn't set off by remote control.

The bomb's location — combined with the lack of a remote control detonator and the discovery in Halberstam's toolbox — had cops examining whether he had the device when it exploded, sources said.

"There's now a possibility that it may have been his own bomb," said a police source.

Agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and NYPD bomb squad investigators swept the area with bomb-sniffing dogs, then checked Halberstam's home and his store, about 1 1/2 miles away in Bay Ridge.

Worries of Terrorism

The blast sent shock waves through the Hasidic community, still shaken from the unsolved slaying of a Brooklyn rabbinical student last week. Many said they hoped the violence wasn't related to Mideast turmoil.

"It was pretty scary," said Jacob Goldberg, 16, who visited Jerusalem last month and saw two terror attacks. "It wasn't as bad as those bombs, but it was pretty close."

With Bill Egbert and Jonathan Lemire

Original Publication Date: 3/25/02

[wingnuts'nbolts]

I agree with you completely.

[luvzhottea]

Your facts don't fit in with some of the posters' agenda; therefore it will be ignored.