A suspicious white powder with a sweet scent was discovered in an envelope Monday at Brooklyn Supreme Court, prompting authorities to block off some floors while they investigated.
The powder was found on the 11th floor, where the Civil Supreme judges’ chambers are located, and access to floors 8-11 were blocked as authorities investigated.
FDNY hazmat units rushed to the courthouse on Adams St. near Johnson St. in downtown Brooklyn about 11:40 a.m. to test if the substance was toxic.
An administrative aide on the 11th floor, where the Civil Supreme judges’ chambers are located, had opened a piece of mail and noticed an odor coming from the envelope. Out of an abundance of caution, she alerted the authorities, cops said.
Floors 8 and 11 were on lockdown as the NYPD’s Emergency Services Unit and the city Department of Environmental Protection investigated. There were no evacuations, but access to those floors remained limited more than two hours later.
“It was an envelope that somebody opened and they were concerned,” FDNY Chief Russ Regan said, adding nobody is “symptomatic.”
Regan said the hazmat crew got “zero readings” on the powder and have turned the substance over to the Emergency Services Unit, who will bring it to a lab for testing.