Israeli consulate evacuated as firefighters remove suspicious envelope

Hazmat truck and firefighters outside the building.

Firefighters this afternoon cleared the tenth floor of 20 Park Plaza - which houses the Israeli consulate - after a worker discovered a suspicious envelope in the regular daily mail. The worker immediately placed the envelope in an incubator-like box designed for just such occurrences.

Firefighters and police cleared the building lobby so that the envelope could be put in a secure container for transport to a state lab for analysis. The rest of the building was not evacuated, but nearby workers, including the one who took the above photo, were told to stay in their offices.