Wayne County residents were in Times Square during car bomb scare
By Kenneth Fine
Published in News on May 3, 2010 2:32 PM
Danny Cook just wanted to see a Yankees game -- to, perhaps, take in a few New York City sights.
But the Pikeville resident had no idea his family's weekend getaway would quickly turn toward terror.
Cook was among hundreds affected by a Saturday car bomb scare that rattled Times Square.
He was on his way back from Grand Central Station with his girlfriend, sister, mother and nephew, when the group passed by responders surrounding the vehicle now said to have housed a bomb that failed to explode.
"They weren't telling us what was going on. They were just telling us to back up for our safety," Cook said. "Then, we found out some of it. Someone said a car had caught on fire, then they said something about a bomb scare."
But there was nowhere for the group to run.
A barricade some 30 yards from their hotel was keeping them from seeking refuge there.
And initial calls made back home to Wayne County were proving fruitless.
And so they waited, with hundreds of others, hoping that a scare was all they would have to endure.
"We didn't have anywhere to go," Cook said. "We didn't know if someone was going to come walking up with a bomb. We were all scared."
They spent Saturday night on the streets, as officials worked to clear the threat.
"It was exhausting," Cook said. "There wasn't even anywhere for us to go to the bathroom."
And those "trapped" among them were growing restless.
"Things got kind of hairy a few times," he said. "People were pushing and shoving. Everyone was just so tired."
So when Cook and his loved ones finally got back to their hotel -- and ultimately, back to Wayne County -- it was truly a relief.
But don't think a bomb scare will keep this local man from going back to the place he is sure he would have met tragedy had the bomb blast been successful.
"I was scared. We all were," Cook said. "But I'm not going to let that stop me from going back."