The “Chelsea Bombing” wreaked havoc on the city on September 17th, instilling fear into Baruch students and New Yorkers alike on the same day the city began welcoming diplomats from across the globe to the city’s annual United Nations Week. Recognized as “an act of terror” by Mayor Bill de Blasio, security watch came to an ultimate high as police forces weighed in on a search for twenty-eight-year-old Ahmad Khan Rahmani, who, according to prosecutors in Union City, New Jersey, was charged with weapons of mass destruction as well as “bombing of public space” upon detainment.
Raina Santos-Rodriguez, a Baruch junior who commutes to Baruch from Long Island City, described the bomb threat as “terrifying.” The thought of an act occurring on 131 West 23rd Street, within a radius of Baruch, was unnerving to Santos-Rodriguez as she begins her third year studying management. She explained, “it’s especially scary to me because I’m on the subway every single day. Like a lot of students at Baruch, I’m a commuter, so I’ll sometimes walk over to the West side to catch the ‘N,’ and you never know what will happen. We’re so close.”
Although the bomb did not result in any deaths, 31 people were injured from the explosion. This comes as a series of subsequent events that has plagued metropolitan cities throughout the United States and the globe over the past few years. The same weekend as the Chelsea explosion, a bombing in New Jersey took off which is allegedly linked to Rahmani as well.
Leo Antonicci, a transfer student to Baruch, described the ramifications of the Chelsea bombing as imposing a “tension” on citizens throughout the city and country. On his train ride to the city, Antonicci described the passengers’ faces as “nervous and frozen.” On “every cart, there was a cop or two manning the train. Everyone stood really still. I always tell my self to stay cool and really calm. It’s all anyone can do at this point.”
New York City Summit Security remains on “high alert.”
