Mercy College shut down its Manhattan campus for hours Wednesday evening after someon sent in a letter threatening to detonate two bombs inside the building, according to police.
The campus reopened at about 9 p.m. Wednesday after police said that the school received a letter with the threats claiming to set off bombs at 6:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. and cited the college's negative treatement of minoritized students, according to police. The threat appears to have been unsubstantiated.
Messages posted to the college's website and social media accounts earlier had warned students, faculty and staff not to go to the Manhattan campus on West 35th Street near Penn Station.
"For those of you at our Manhattan Campus, we ask that you gather your belongings and leave the building quickly and calmly. Please refrain from using your cell phones until you are out of the building," the message stated. "We are continuing to monitor the situation and will keep you updated."
No charges have been made in the case.
Mercy College is a private, nonsecterian college based in the Westchester County town of Dobbs Ferry with satellite campuses in Manhattan, the Bronx and Yorktown Heights. About 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students attend the college's campuses; the school has 210 full-time faculty members.
