NYPD Bomb Squad Discovers Apparent 1980s 'Time Capsule' From Iconic NYC Nightclub

FLATIRON, NY — A time capsule shaped like a World War II-era missile and filled with "messages to the future" from 1980s Manhattan club kids was apparently unearthed from the ground beneath West 21st Street by construction crews Wednesday, prompting a bomb scare in the area.

The NYPD's bomb squad was called to West 21st between Fifth and Sixth avenues around 1:45 p.m. to investigate the "suspicious package," a department spokeswoman told Patch. Multiple buildings on the block had to be evacuated while cops inspected the package, she said.

After about an hour and a half, police had deemed the mystery object safe, the spokeswoman said — and furthermore, determined it was some kind of "time capsule."

By then, internet sleuths had already tracked down old reports of a vintage, non-functioning, 200-pound bomb shell transformed into a time capsule and buried in the vicinity circa 1986. It was reportedly buried there by the managers of an iconic Flatiron District nightclub called Danceteria — perhaps best known as the set for the disco scene in the Madonna film "Desperately Seeking Susan."

Photos of the object snapped by New Yorkers from the windows of nearby office buildings Wednesday showed it was indeed shaped like an old military missile.

And voila: Danceteria's former owner, John Argento, confirmed the theory to Gothamist on Wednesday afternoon.

"I told everybody that this was going to happen!" Argento told the local news site. "People always asked me what happened to the time capsule. I'd say it's in the alley next to the back of Danceteria."

According to Argento, he and his team bought the old bomb shell at an Army-Navy surplus store at 14th Street and Sixth Avenue in the mid-80s. They then hung it from the ceiling of Danceteria, he said — where clubgoers could slip their "messages to the future" into the vessel via trapdoor — and buried it in an alley running alongside the club.

"We buried it and forgot about it," Argento told Gothamist. "It was one of a thousand parties..."

The "alley" Argento referenced in his Gothamist interview could be the long-empty lot (34 W. 21st St.) next to Danceteria's old home (30 W. 21st St.) where a real-estate developer is now building a skinny, six-story residential tower, much to the chagrin of neighborhood preservationists.

However, the NYPD's press office could not immediately provide any more specifics on the location or contents of the capsule — nor its fate going forward. We'll update this post with anything else we find out.

Lead image courtesy of the NYPD.