Okay, maybe that is too flip a headline, considering the potential carnage that could have resulted had the Times Square car bomber been successful this past weekend.Thankfully, the would-be bomber was not able to build a bomb that worked. And, thankfully again, solid police work had the guy in custody in not much more than 48 hours after his smoldering handwork was discovered.
Still, it is a reminder that the bombings we hear about half a world away could indeed happen here. New York City residents have carried a reputation for indifference that is traced often to the infamous Kitty Genovese murder of 1964. But the events of September 2001 changed that. Last weekend, a street vendor first alerted a mounted officer about the suspicious SUV. No longer indifferent, New Yorkers – and Americans everywhere – now strive to find the appropriate measure of vigilance without paranoia.
