Man crawled up from New York subway hatch to throw smoke bomb at diners

Police say a man climbed out of a sidewalk grate and hurled a smoke bomb into Greenwich Village restaurant diners on Friday evening, before climbing back underground and vanishing. The incident happened at around 5:45pm at the Da Silvano restaurant and Bar Pitti restaurant. The suspect emerged from the grate that leads up from the subway system and threw the device, police said.



The bomb emitted red smoke when a suspect wearing an American flag T-shirt hurled it, police said. The manager at Bar Pitti said an employee grabbed the smoking device and tossed it back outside, at which point the suspect ducked back underground and disappeared. The incident brought the NYPD Bomb Squad to the scene, but no one was injured, police said.

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“First thought was ISIS with everything going on. It’s scary. It’s nerve-wracking, as a native Long Islander coming to the city for dinner with friends and family,” said tourist Kay Maygothling. “I’m glad I didn’t bring my daughter.” Hours after the incident, restaurant customers filled the sidewalk café once more, under the watchful eye of a lone police officer.

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Some of them joked about what might have been behind the bizarre incident. “It’s New York. We have troglodytes,” said Manhattan resident Hal Hayes. “They live down in the tunnels. They come out when they need some air.” It was not known whether the smoke bomb incident was a statement, a warning, or something to do with the restaurant business. Police said it was not related to terrorism. The suspect, who is described as a white male approximately 20 years old with blond wavy hair, remains on the loose.