Police and firefighters rushed to a Midtown hotel Tuesday after a worker was hospitalized following exposure to a mysterious white powder, forcing the building’s evacuation, NYPD said.
According to Deputy Chief James McCarthy, a hotel worker cleaning a bathroom of an unoccupied room on the 11th floor of the Park Hyatt Hotel on West 58th Street and 7th Avenue at around 1:20 p.m. on Nov. 29 was rushed to a hospital after washing away what she described as a white powder.
“A female employee who was working at a nearby hotel when she began to feel nauseous and was moved by EMS to a local hospital. While at the hospital, the female worker advised that she felt sick shortly after cleaning a room and she had cleaned this white powdery substance in the room. FDNY responded to the hotel and began to check that room to try to determine what the white powdery substance was,” Chief McCarthy said.
Since the powder had already been removed, firefighters swabbed surfaces in the room for further testing. Results indicated that the substance could be typically used with explosive material.
The initial results then triggered an even more massive response from NYPD officers and bomb specialists.
“NYPD investigators entered the room to test multiple surfaces. All subsequent tests of the surfaces are met with negative results. There were no trace amounts of hazardous materials detected at this time, we feel that the earlier test results were a false positive,” Chief McCarthy added.
Despite the negative test results, police say they are searching for an individual who makes a habit of swiping hotel room keys and staying in unoccupied rooms.
This person of interest was believed to have entered the room at around 8:30 p.m. the previous night and remained there until about 10:30 a.m. on Nov. 29.
McCarthy told amNewYork Metro that this individual is known to police and has been cuffed at least 16 times in the past for low level crimes.
Police also advise that the hotel worker has fully recovered, and that the area is now safe and open to the public.
“I want to stress to all New Yorkers and visitors there’s no credible threat against the city at this time,” Chief McCarthy declared.
