Times Square Evacuated, No Threat Found

[Bill Mattocks]

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20091230-706668.html

• DECEMBER 30, 2009, 1:27 P.M. ET

NYPD Evacuated Times Square Buildings As Precaution





A New York Police Department spokesman said it was too early in the investigation to comment on the nature of a suspicious van in Times Square on Wednesday, but police had evacuated some nearby buildings as a precaution.
The Nasdaq Stock Exchange's MarketSite was among the sites evacuated, though Fox Business Network has now reported the evacuations are over and the area is being reopened. Nasdaq's MarketSite is the exchange's face in Times Square, where it hosts corporate meetings, product launches, press conferences and special events.
"The bomb squad is barring pedestrians and is approaching the vehicle with a robot," Sgt. Carlos Nieves had told Dow Jones Newswires. "The camera will help technicians assess what it is in the van."
Fox showed that the rear doors of the van were opened by police and officers have moved in to inspect it. The news channel has also reported the FBI has been brought onto the scene.

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/30/abandoned-van-prompts-police-response-on-times-square/

December 30, 2009, 12:03 pm Police Find Only Clothing in Abandoned Van

By AL BAKER Updated, 1:21 p.m. | Police officers sounded the all-clear and began reopening streets near Times Square that they had barricaded for nearly two hours in response to a suspiciously parked vehicle. After investigating the vehicle, a white 1992 Dodge van, the police said they discovered nothing harmful inside, only clothing.

 

[CanuckMA]

they discovered nothing harmful inside, only clothing

They obviously never encountered my gi after training. :uhyeah:

 

[Nolerama]

*sigh* we've become a paranoid society.

Last year, right before the holidays, the STL bomb squad (and explosive ordinance robot thingy) were called to a FedEx Kinko's because some disgruntled customer had to wait for some employees to get done with a conversation, and was met with rude service.

The customer decided to leave his wrapped gift in the store, and stormed out.

The employees went back to their conversation and later "discovered" the left-behind box, found it to be suspicious, and called the police. They evacuated the entire block.

Later that day, after police and robot inspection, it was determined that the contents of the box was a coffee maker.

 

[MJS]

Odd.....I go to NYC every year, I walk by cars, trucks, vans, you name it, all parked on the side of the road for hours....and never once have I seen such a cluster as I saw on TV this afternoon. I wonder what was so suspicious about this vehicle, compared to the many that're parked on the road daily, unattended, for hours on end.

 

[Deaf Smith]

That van had been sitting there for DAYS. Any terrorist would have caused HUGE destruction anytime.

We are only lucky cuase the terrorist are even more stupid than our government.

The same government that want's to take over our health care and 1/6th of the economy.

Deaf

 

[Carol]

Odd.....I go to NYC every year, I walk by cars, trucks, vans, you name it, all parked on the side of the road for hours....and never once have I seen such a cluster as I saw on TV this afternoon. I wonder what was so suspicious about this vehicle, compared to the many that're parked on the road daily, unattended, for hours on end.

Seems like a combination of things. The van was parked in the middle of Times Square, and tomorrow is the big New Years Eve celebration. The van also had no plates, and a placard in the windshield that claimed the vehicle was part of a phony LE organization.

I suspect if something like this had happened outside of Manhattan in a quieter residential neighborhood, the NYPD might just be calling for a tow, instead of a bomb squad.

 

[Gordon Nore]

One of those 'damned if you do, damned if you don't situations.' Years ago I worked for an agency in which some threats had been made against members of the senior management team -- anonymous phone calls, written messages, that sort of thing -- possibly the work of disgruntled former employee with a violent past. Naturally, given the unkowns, the anxiety grew in the building, and management decided to hire off-duty police officers to watch the front door during work hours. The first day, the officer joined our staff meeting and discussed whether the threats were serious. He said, and I will never forget, 'We're terrific experts after the fact.'

 

[grydth]

I would like to see all of the cops who allegedly overreacted at Times Square re-assigned to manage the "No Fly List"..... maybe then we can keep some of these homicidal alien killers out of my country..... and if they overreact and keep more and more out - - - now, that'll be when the "System worked"

 

[MJS]

Seems like a combination of things. The van was parked in the middle of Times Square, and tomorrow is the big New Years Eve celebration. The van also had no plates, and a placard in the windshield that claimed the vehicle was part of a phony LE organization.

Ahh...well, I stand corrected then, as I wasn't aware of that. Yes, if that was the case, then I could see the response. Of course, I think that any time a new scare comes into play, people are more on edge. I mean, think back to the anthrax scare. How many offices were evacuated because of some suspicious white powder...which turned out to be nothing more than powdered sugar from a donut.

I suspect if something like this had happened outside of Manhattan in a quieter residential neighborhood, the NYPD might just be calling for a tow, instead of a bomb squad.

That, and any other typical day. I wonder if this would have generated such a response if it was in the middle of August or any other day when nothing big was planned. I saw this because given the size of the city and more pressing complaints, I'm sure that call would have sat for a while. I take susp. vehicle calls pretty much every day, ones ranging from cars parked in an area or neighborhood for a long time, which usually turn out to be visiting friends at a house in the area, to cars that're driving around an area for a long time, which usually turn out to be lost drivers.

Not saying they're not worth investigating, but the priority level on a typical day, isn't that high.