There was a big thank you to the NYPD Bomb Squad from the mayor of a grateful city.

"No one in this extraordinary organization, no one, did more to address this crisis than the members of the bomb squad," de Blasio said. "And I want to say to them, to all of you, I want to express the appreciation of 8.6 million New Yorkers."

The squad, based out of a West Village complex, rendered safe three of the 13 bombs sent to offices of leading Democrats and CNN. The squad then transported them to a NYPD facility in the Bronx.

How do they do it? Very carefully.

"Fearlessness is actually a little bit inaccurate," said Lieutenant Mark Torre of the NYPD Bomb Squad. "You have to have not so much a fear but a very healthy respect for the people of an explosive device and what it can do to the human body."

A human body only protected by what's called a bubble suit, without even thick gloves, which would hamper handling the bombs.

A police source says robots weren't used because the situations didn't call for it. 

Then, there's Memphis, and Hammer. The dogs are members of the bomb squad, but they weren't used this time, except, perhaps for companionship. That's because the bomb squad had already identified that bombs were planted. The dogs smell packages to detect the presence.

At the news conference, de Blasio wasn't asked about the political environment that may be behind the attempted bombing spree. But Governor Andrew Cuomo opined on it, continuing a tour of national media outlets. 

"This is just a symptom, not the illness. This is just the lesion on the body, not the virus. And if we don't stop this political mania, this hatred, this fervor, anger, hatred, you'll see this again and again and again," Cuomo said.