Times Square in the heart of Manhattan was briefly evacuated after “two devices were found within 50 feet of each other near 44th Street and Seventh Avenue around 11:20 p.m.,” CBS New York reported.
However, the bomb threat evaporated as the NYPD soon determined the devices were safe and not a threat, wrote J. Peter Donald of NYPD Communications.
Update: The two suspicious packages in Times Square have been cleared & deemed safe. 42nd Street will be re-opening shortly.
According to The New York Daily News: “Police have shut down Times Square while they investigate two suspicious packages left on the street Sunday night.”
However, it became clear shortly after midnight on the East Coast that the packages or devices were, in fact, not a bomb. ABC7 also reported that the NYPD was investigating two suspicious packages in Times Square.
Here’s a sight you don’t see much: Times Square “empty for blocks.”
Times Square is empty for blocks as the NYPD Bomb Squad continues to work.
CBS New York was live from the scene and leading coverage on the development. The television station posted the live video below on Facebook with the comment “DEVELOPING: Multiple roads have been shut down in Times Square due to suspicious devices. Here is an overhead look.” However, the video feed soon showed only an empty square.
People also posted photos of an empty Times Square on social media. That, of course, is an unusual sight for the normally bustling epicenter of New York.
CBS New York reported that the NYPD bomb squad was at the scene as the story was just breaking on the evening of April 30. An NBC journalist wrote on Twitter: “Cars and pedestrians are being turned away. Big area of Times Square is taped off.”
BREAKING: Bomb threat shuts down New York’s Times Square t.co/uAabBXCS4u
According to The New York Daily News, “The area is shut down from 42nd to 45th St., between Sixth and Eighth Aves., as the NYPD’s Bomb Squad investigated the scene early Monday” May 1.
One Twitter user posted a photo and wrote: “Times Square shut down. People are calm. Cops everywhere. View from the #MarriottMarquis hotel.”
Times Square shut down. People are calm. Cops everywhere. View from the #MarriottMarquis hotel. #alert #unverified #Manhattan
New York City emergency management reported street closures due to “police activity.”
Due to police activity, street closures btwn W 42 St & W 46 St and 6 Ave & 8 Ave (MN). Use alternate routes.
According to CBS New York, “Multiple thoroughfares in Times Square were shut down late Sunday night after two suspicious devices were found in the area.”
People reported a possible lockdown.
There were reports that “#NYPD has shut down 42nd-47th sts from 5th-7th aves in #TimesSquare after a bomb threat.”
POLICE INVESTIGATING BOMB THREAT IN TIMES SQUARE: #NYPD has shut down 42nd-47th sts from 5th-7th aves in #TimesSquare after a bomb threat
News spread quickly on social media.
Times Square blocked off after two suspicious devices were found in the area. t.co/JbFkDuC7vz
This is a developing story, and this post will be updated as more information is known.