By Alexandra Cheney, Olivia Scheck and Heather Grossmann
DNAinfo Staff
HARLEM — A 45-year-old man was taken to Harlem Hospital after an explosive device thrown from the window of an apartment building burned his face and arms on Tuesday, police said.
The man was identified by building workers and residents as a bricklayer for the New York City Housing Authority, which runs the Drew Hamilton Houses at 143rd Street and Frederick Douglas Boulevard where he was injured, but they did not know his name.
The NYPD and EMS responded to a 911 call from the housing development about 1:20 p.m. on Tuesday, police said. The victim is in stable condition at Harlem Hospital, according to police.
The NYCHA worker was going down a service ramp that led to a basement room containing supplies when he was hit by a pyrotechnic device that had been tossed out of an unidentified apartment window and hit the ground, then bounced up and exploded, hitting the victim in the face, NYPD said.
Residents and other maintenance staff at the Drew Hamilton Houses said that it was commonplace for people to throw stuff from their apartment windows in the complex.
"People are always throwing stuff out the windows here," said Nicole Garrett, 13, who attends 7th grade around the corner at the St. Charles Borromeo School.
NYCHA issued a statement about the incident, saying, "We are very concerned about the incident that occurred at Drew-Hamilton and we will work closely and diligently with the New York Police Department to advance their investigation.
We offer our consolation to the family and we hope for our employee’s full recovery.”
NYPD tape bearing the words, "Hazardous Material Do Not Enter," blocked off an entrance to the sprawling apartment complex at W. 143rd Street and Eighth Avenue Tuesday afternoon. About a dozen police were on the scene.
By Wednesday only stray bits of caution tape remained on the ramp where the device exploded.
