Times Square New Year’s Eve Security: After Van Bomb Scare, NYPD Takes No Chances
December 31, 2009 by admin
Filed under Police State
NEW YORK (CBS/AP) When New York police received a report of a suspicious van with tinted windows, no license plates and a bogus law enforcement placard parked in the heart of Times Square just one day before the New Year’s celebration, they took no chances, evacuating thousands of tourists from the area and warning the occupants of surrounding buildings.
Photo: Suspicious van in Times Square Dec. 30, 2009.
Patrol officers spotted the van Dec. 30 around 11 a.m. on Broadway between 41st and 42nd streets, a tarp partially covered the van, and a placard in the window said “detective’s crime clinic, Metropolitan New Jersey and New York,” a nonexistent law enforcement agency.
Shouting and putting up metal and wood barricades, police began clearing several blocks, directing thousands of Times Square tourists to move south and west. Counterterrorism and bomb squad crews responded and a robot was used to examine the vehicle. Officers then approached on foot and peered in the windows.
The van was opened and clothing was discovered inside, along with a temporary registration. Police are looking for the van’s owner.
Stephanie Gonzalez, who works in the glass-walled tower directly in front of where the van was parked, said announcements were made around 11 a.m. that people should head to the west side of the building, away from the vehicle. She left the building entirely.
“Post-9/11, you’re just not going to stick around to figure it out,” she said.
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