Stuyvesant Community Evacuates Due to Threat

Stuyvesant students and faculty evacuated the building on Monday, April 13, after the school received a “non-specific threat” via phone, according to Assistant Principal of Safety and Security Brian Moran. When the threat was first received during fourth period, students were placed in a hold. Shortly after fifth period began, students and staff were instructed to evacuate. “Due to an issue in the school building, students and staff have been evacuated while the situation is being investigated,” Principal Seung Yu wrote in an email to Stuyvesant families at 11:41 a.m. Students reentered the building at the end of sixth period and were instructed to return to their fourth period classes before transitioning to their seventh period classes, whereupon usual instruction resumed.

The threat was made to the school’s main number on Monday morning, prompting administrators to report the matter to the NYPD. “It is a police investigation as well [...] Anytime there’s a threat, even if it may be noncredible, we contact 911. They come, they assess the situation, and then NYPD makes a determination on the next steps for the school,” Moran said. 

Threats such as Monday’s do not always result in an evacuation. “In many many cases the safest place to be is inside the building,” Moran said. The administration decided to put students in a hold while awaiting the NYPD’s assessment of the situation.

While students and staff were outside of the building, the police department conducted a thorough sweep of the school. “The police do a check of the building to make sure that it’s safe,” Moran said. “That’s why it takes some time for us to get back into the building. The police have to give us the all clear.” Moran also shared that the Emergency Service Unit came to Stuyvesant to assist with the assessment, and that police dogs were used during the search.

The NYPD found the threat to be non-credible, though the investigation remains ongoing. “Detectives are assigned to investigate. They have their methods that they use whether that’s technology being able to [check] where phone calls may have originated from or doing that kind of work,” Moran said.

Moran emphasized the importance of vigilance in situations like these. “[It’s good to have] as many eyes and awareness out there as possible. So students [must] be a part of that,” Moran said. “The reason things are able to go so smoothly is because we practice these things [...] we’re not rushing but we’re also having a sense of urgency.”