Police tape at 43rd and Broadway blocking off Times Square. (Jennifer Glickel/DNAinfo)
By Jennifer Glickel, Nicole Bode and Mariel S. Clark
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
TIMES SQUARE — A suspicious-looking van with a bogus police placard in the front windshield, covered windows and no license plates triggered a mass evacuation of Times Square Wednesday.
Jittery Manhattanites and tourists, still reeling from the attempted terrorist plane bombing on Christmas Day, flooded out of police barricades about 11 a.m., as the bomb squad investigated a dilapidated white Dodge van parked on Broadway, between 41st and 42nd Streets.
The vehicle, which was reportedly left in a no-parking zone for at least two days before it aroused suspicion, sparked a tense two-hour standoff as the Joint Terrorism Taskforce sent in a robot armed with an X-ray camera to inspect the vehicle.
A member of the bomb squad gave a thumbs up and declared the vehicle clean shortly after 1 p.m.
A bomb squad worker gives a thumbs up next to a suspicious van in Times Square. (Mariel S. Clark/DNAinfo)
"Somebody thought it was suspicious. They called. We checked it out. It turned out not to be anything bad," Mayor Michael Bloomberg told the Associated Press outside the NASDAQ building hours after the incident Wednesday. "We take every threat or every potential threat seriously."
During the scare, buildings nearby, including ESPN Zone, Conde Nast and NASDAQ, were all evacuated.
"Due to the area and time of year it was an added concern," an NYPD spokesman said at the scene. "The NYPD is always diligent in their efforts to combat terror."
Workers at 1500 Broadway, located down the street from the van, were told over the building's intercom to stay in the building unless absolutely necessary, and to stay away from the windows.
Police barricaded Broadway between 39th and 44th Street during the incident. The streets reopened shortly after 1 p.m.
“It’s frustrating and scary and I don’t know what to do right now," said a manager at the Times Square Duane Reade, which was inside the frozen zone. "But I’d rather be safe than sorry."
Inside the van, officials found a mound of clothing, apparently fake Burberry-style scarves and pashminas, folding tables, planks of plywood and other items that looked like they belonged to a street vendor.
The beat-up van also had an expired registration document taped to a back door and a fake laminated police placard on the dashboard, police said.
Inside the rear of the "suspicious" van are what appear to be knockoff scarves and a folding table. (Mariel S. Clark/DNAinfo)
The bogus placard claimed that the van belonged to a detective's crime unit covering "Metropolitan New Jersey and New York." A 2010 Detectives' Endowment Association card, distributed by the NYPD Detectives union, was found on the dash.
Passerby praised the NYPD for their rapid response, but blasted anyone who saw the suspicious van and let it sit there without alerting officials.
"The NYPD did a great job of evacuating the area," said Edwin Vargas, 36, an energy consultant from New Jersey, "This van was sitting here for two days with no tickets and nobody notifying the city ... I just feel embarassed that after the experience of 9/11 that civilians are not more aware."
The scare came just days after a suspected Al-Qaeda terrorist boarded a plane to Detroit with a bomb in his underwear. Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, 23, tried to detonate the explosive as Flight 253 from Amsterdam began its final decent into the U.S. He was thwarted by fellow passengers.
There have been no corresponding threats involving the vehicle, NYPD Deputy Commissioner Paul J. Browne told the Associated Press.
The scare came just a block from the Times Square tower where the New Year’s Eve Ball was being readied for its annual descent. The temporary evacuation delayed rehearsals for the ceremony.
Browne also said there may be reason to believe the van was only parked in the area since Wednesday morning, and not for days as was originally reported.
Millions of partygoers are expected to watch the ball drop in Times Square Thursday to ring in 2010. The NYPD has taken extra precautions in anticipation of the annual ceremony, including sweeping garages and buildings in the area, Browne said.
The FBI will also be on hand to support the NYPD, dispatching 100 agents, analysts, support teams and task force members to the area, according to FBI Special Agent Richard Kolko.
