Police: Devices found in New York weeks ago / LJWorld.com

Archive for Friday, February 2, 2007

By Adam Nichols and Corky Siemaszko - New York Daily News

February 2, 2007

New York — Those blinking billboards that brought out the bomb squad in Boston and nearly shut the city down were spotted in New York weeks ago - and didn't cause a stir.

In fact, some of them "are on eBay now," Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said Thursday. "People are trying to make a buck out of it."

Kelly said he wasn't knocking Boston's reaction, and ripped Interference Marketing, which is based in Greenwich Village, for the stunt.

"In hindsight, they should have thought a little more about this, certainly in a post-9/11 world," Kelly said. "They had wires hanging out of some of them. It's reasonable to look a little askance at these things."

Kelly said about 20 of the foot-tall devices were distributed in the city but cops found just two of them.

"We get about 6,000 suspicious-package calls a year in New York, but we got no calls for this," he said.

The guerrilla marketing firm also planted the devices in nine other U.S. cities to promote a show on Turner's Cartoon Network. Interference Chief Executive Officer Sam Travis Ewen stayed out of sight for a second day Thursday and could not be located for comment.

Peter Berdovsky and Sean Stevens - the artists who were busted for scattering 38 mini-billboards around Boston - who pleaded not guilty to planting hoax devices and were released on $2,500 bond, treated the tumult like a joke during a bizarre news conference.

Bizuayehu Tesfaye/AP Photo

Sean Stevens, 28, left, and Peter Berdovsky, 27, react during their arraignment Thursday in Charlestown District Court in Boston as they plead not guilty to placing a hoax device and to disorderly conduct. The pair allegedly placed electronic advertising devices around the city, an act that stirred fears of terrorism and shut down parts of Boston on Wednesday.

"We're only taking questions about hair," said the 27-year-old Berdovsky as he stroked his unruly dreadlocks. "I feel like my hair is perfect."

Boston's city fathers, however, were not laughing and said they may sue to recoup $750,000 in police costs. "These devices looked like a bomb," Assistant Attorney General John Grossman insisted.

Turner Chairman Phil Kent publicly apologized to Boston "that part of a marketing campaign was mistaken for a public danger. We appreciate the gravity of this situation."

The campaign, which aimed to generate buzz for "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" with billboards showing a cartoon "Mooninite" character giving passersby the finger, was flying under the radar until jittery Boston residents called cops Wednesday.

Hundreds of cops and firefighters filed into the city's subway and shut down city streets while the devices were removed from under highway bridges, from a downtown hospital building, and from under an elevated subway track.

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2 February 2007
at 3:28 p.m.

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consumer1 (Anonymous) says…

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2 February 2007
at 4:37 p.m.

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Stephen (Anonymous) says…

Reactionary fools, paranoia sweeping the nation, lock your doors and don't go outside unless you need to buy, buy, buy! These guys are Heros