By Zachary Stieber
An explosion in the Bronx borough of New York City rocked houses on Monday night, prompting residents to wonder what caused the vibrations across Scarsdale, Pelham Bay, Country Club and other areas, as well as Westchester.
A Fire Department of New York spokesperson told the New York Post that the explosion was from a box of fireworks detonating in Pelham Bay Park at about 11:15 p.m. However, some people who felt the explosion said that it happened as early as 10:57 p.m.
An NYPD source told the Post that the explosives were in a garbage pail left on a pitcher’s mound on a baseball field in the park.
“These were high grade professional fireworks, very strong fireworks,” the source said. Maria Castro, a Bronx resident, said that the explosion shook her brick house.
“Those were definitely not fireworks!” she said via Twitter. “Every single house in Country Club shook.”
Castro described the impact as “terrifying” and “a huge explosion.” “It felt like a car crashed into my house!”
Added Kelly MCormick: “This whole ‘large box of fireworks was detonated’ excuse seems thin. You don’t feel an explosion in Westchester from fireworks in the Bronx.”
Others on Twitter said that they believed it was an earthquake or a homemade bomb.
One Twitter user said that someone who lives nearby said that there were 6 to 8 mortars tied together on the pitcher’s mound on one of the baseball fields at the park. Another said a family member who is an EMT said that it wasn’t fireworks. Yet another claimed that sources told him that it was “commercial grade explosives of some sort.”