IED in Times Square?

[gingerbread]

According to the calls my cop friend is receiving.
NY news says Times Square has been evacuated.
One report has car fire, another has car bomb. No links up yet as far as I can tell.

Edit: Here's a short link, though the pictures on TV show a much larger area has been evacuated.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/times_square_car_smoke_scare_TyBE8K6vF3PzScpS9xG0XP

More update: Pretty massive evacuation, including Broadway theaters. Marriott Marquis on lockdown, along with other area hotels.
Some news reports say propane tanks found in the suspect vehicle.

I hope nothing bad happens in other parts of NYC, because every available cop is in Times Square.

 

[Armchair_QB]

MSNBC appears to be the only cable news channel covering this. CNN has Larry King on. Fox is at commercial.

 

[Dyno]

MSNBC, of all networks, is on live about this. All kinds of stuff on Twitter - propane tanks, wires, etc. in the SUV. Scary, scary...

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

And now they're live on Fox News.

 

[Rumpleforeskin]

This could have been very, very bad news.

 

[dixiehack]

Dude on MSNBC describes device as looking "like something out of a Tom & Jerry cartoon."

 

[Small Town Guy]

Dude on MSNBC describes device as looking "like something out of a Tom & Jerry cartoon."

When he said that, he was talking about the car bomb in the UK from three years ago, the one those guys burned themselves on at the airport and in one of the cities. He said a crude car bomb, which is what this one has been described as, might be comparable to that particular one.

Bloomberg might be giving a press conference soon. That's one thing I really like about him, he's always in front of the media shortly after any type of incident happens and he's usually pretty cool and calm.

 

[gingerbread]

Kudos to NYPD for swift and orderly evacuation without causing panic.
Not including New Years Eve, this was probably the most crowded night of the year in Times Square. Balmy weather, half an hour before Broadway plays scheduled to begin, hotels in the area at full capacity.

It could have been catastrophic. Now it'll likely be a Law and Order episode.


http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/05/01/2010-05-01_times_square_evacuated_after_smoking_vehicle_sparks_emergency_probe.html

 

[sportshack06]

someone needs to explain to the dimwits at CNN that Google Earth is not a live satellite view.

 

[DanOregon]

I enjoy watching pressers. Just once I'd like to hear an answer of "Oh, yeah, glad you asked - we do know who did this and just forgot to tell you."

I always love the "Do you have a message for (insert name of city residents here)?"
I always think of that line in RoboCop "Stay out of trouble."

 

[Football_Bat]

The car supposedly had its VIN removed but they'll still be able to trace it. Times Square is bristling with security cameras so they'll ID the suspects. And they have the materials intact and probably a wealth of fingerprints on the car and containers.

These were amateurs, and thank Tebow for that. I suspect we'll have the dirtbags in custody before sundown, if they didn't hop the red-eye to Yemen.

 

[Moderator1]

What does Tebow have to do with this?

 

[Azrael]

Pros from "Yemen" would likely know what they're doing. Propane, fireworks and two alarm clocks on the most videotaped block in North America? This was bush league. Stupid. Lazy. Much more likely homegrown. Maybe tied to prior local noisemakers in front of the recruiting center and several local Starbucks.

 

[RickStain]

Yeah, that looks like some people were either 1) Way too stupid to build an actual bomb but tried anyway or 2) Just wanted to get a rise out of people.

Seeing as how they left the emergency lights on, I suspect they just wanted it to be found and cause a big scare but never had any intention (or ability) to detonate it.

 

[goalmouth]

CNN can distinguish between 'boroughs' and 'burroughs.' But then, we did find Saddam in a hole in the ground...

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

Or, it could be some idiot hot dog vendor keeps propane in his car for his hot dog stand, as well as a gas can in case he runs out of gas, and his POS car caught on fire.

 

[spnited]

Or, it could be some idiot hot dog vendor keeps propane in his car for his hot dog stand, as well as a gas can in case he runs out of gas, and his POS car caught on fire.

You're a freaking moron.

In fact. it was "some idiot vendor" -- a T-shirt seller and Vietnam vet -- who reported the suspiscious SUV to a mounted cop in Times Square. The cop then checked it out and put in the call for bomb squad, fire dept., etc. and began evacuating the area.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

Or, it could be some idiot hot dog vendor keeps propane in his car for his hot dog stand, as well as a gas can in case he runs out of gas, and his POS car caught on fire.

You're a freaking moron.

In fact. it was "some idiot vendor" -- a T-shirt seller and Vietnam vet -- who reported the suspiscious SUV to a mounted cop in Times Square. The cop then checked it out and put in the call for bomb squad, fire dept., etc. and began evacuating the area.

Which all proves that it was most definitely a bomb. Right?

 

[spnited]

Nah, just some guy left three full propane tanks, two full five-gallon gas cans, a bunch of fireworks, some electrical wiring, two alarm/timing devices. etc. in his car and forgot about them.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/03/nyregion/03timessquare.html?hp

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/02/t-shirt-vendor-takes-on-new-persona-reluctant-hero-of-times-square/?hp

 

[Piotr Rasputin]

TSP is onto something here. Perpetrator tries to paint himself as hero. happens all the time.

Does Richard Jewell have an alibi?