NYC Times Square Evacuated Again, Cooler of Water Bottles Secured

May 7^th, 2010 - New York City's famous Times Square was evacuated after a suspicious package--which was later identified as a cooler full of water bottles--was found in the square at 45^th and Broadway one block away from the scene of a failed car-bomb attempt last Saturday, according to CNN. Reports started to circulate shortly after 1pm EST on Friday, with a live video feed of the scene available on the CNN website. The video feed reported the arrival of a bomb squad just before 2pm, and an inconclusive X-Ray was performed by the Bomb Squad by way of a robot at approximately 2:20pm, with an official all-clear issued by the NYPD at 2:26pm.

CNN's Ali Velshi reported that "Times Square (was) entirely empty" shortly after 2pm EST. Paul Brown, a spokesperson for the NYPD, was quoted by CNN as telling the Associated Press that officials were using an "abundance of caution" while investigating the abandoned cooler.

Marie Somma, who was at the scene of the evacuation looking down from the 16^th floor of the actor's equity building, was interviewed live on CNN. She reported activity of officials, stating that the object in question-identified as an abandoned cooler-resembled a piece of photographer equipment. "Things look very quiet-almost eerie" she expressed to CNN.

The evacuation followed almost a week after the previous evacuation due to a failed car-bomb attempt, in which "an SUV was discovered loaded with propane tanks, fireworks and a timing device" according to QMI Agency. The incident resulted in the arrest of Faisal Shahzad. MSNBC reported that Faisal Shahzad "admitted training to make bombs at a terrorism camp in his native land before he rigged an SUV with a homemade device to explode in Times Square."

According to the CNN, there have been 284 incidents with New York as the target for a terrorist attack since 9/11.

Sources:

CNN, "Times Square evacuated because of suspicious cooler"
MSNBC, "Times Square suspect charged in terror plot"
QMI Agency, "Times Square in NYC evacuated again"