Albany JCC evacuated following bomb threat

The Sidney Albert Albany Jewish Community Center was evacuated Wednesday morning after the facility received a bomb threat — a scene that has played out at the facility nearly a half dozen times in the last five years.

Staff urged people to leave at about 6:45 a.m., telling them the JCC had received an unspecified threat. Police later confirmed it was a bomb threat.

Albany police spokesman Officer Steve Smith said, an “employee came into work and had an email in their inbox.”

“No specific details but we’ve evacuated the building and are on scene investigating and clearing the building,” he said shortly afterward.

It is at least fifth time since 2017 that a threat has been made at the 340 Whitehall Road center.

Previous incidents have been unfounded but the evacuations unnerved members of the center.

In October, police investigated an email threatening that “bombs have been planted” at the center but determined it was a hoax.

On Feb. 23, 2020, the JCC was one of nearly 20 Jewish community centers to receive a threat warning of bombs placed in the building. The building was evacuated but again authorities found no actual bombs or other dangerous devices.

The facility was one of 14 Jewish community centers targeted by a bomb scare on Jan. 17, 2017, a threat that was made about two weeks after the Albany JCC was targeted by another bomb threat.

In all previous incidents, police determined the threats were hoaxes.