Workers and patients at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center were sent into a panic after a former employee showed up at the Upper East Side hospital and dropped off a bag he claimed had a bomb inside, officials said.
Cops quickly took the ex-employee into custody after the noon incident at the York Ave. hospital near E. 68th St.
The former worker entered the lobby, dropped off the bag and left, cops said.
Employees approaching the bag found a note attached to it saying it was a bomb.
A massive police response, including members of the NYPD’s Emergency Service Unit, was called in to investigate and handle crowd control. It was not immediately clear if the NYPD Bomb Squad joined in the response.
It was later determined the bag contained a statue made of cement, sources said.
No injuries were reported.
Charges against the former employee, who was found nearby, were pending.
“Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center security personnel detected an incident in the 1275 York Ave. lobby and promptly notified the NYPD,” the hospital said in a statement. “The situation was quickly contained and no one was harmed. NYPD has issued the all clear. We are grateful for the swift response of our MSK security team and the NYPD.”
A couple of halal food cart workers told the Daily News they were ordered by cops to evacuate from the block Saturday afternoon, but weren’t told why until afterward.
One of them, who didn’t speak much English, called over his friend to help describe what happened.
“He understands something emergency, but he don’t know the exact reason,” the friend explained of the food cart worker’s initial confusion.
“He saw a lot of police come at the same time, and they just ask him to shut down the cart and go to the next corner. And they put the yellow, you know, the yellow tape around the whole block. And that’s it. He said he didn’t see anything else.”
The scare comes a week after two ISIS-inspired terror suspects chucked homemade bombs at a crowd of protesters at Gracie Mansion.
The bomb that was thrown didn’t go off, causing nothing but smoke, but an investigation later revealed it was packed with explosive material, plus metal nuts and bolts inside that could have been deadly if detonated.
The two teen suspects are facing a slew of federal charges, including the use of a weapon of mass destruction and attempted provision of material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization.
