Times Square Evacuation – Water Cooler Scare in New York

A Times Square evacuation was in effect in New York at around 1:15 p.m after someone reported a suspicious cooler that was left on a sidewalk about a block from where a failed car bomb was found over the weekend. It turned out, after the police search, that the cooler contained nothing but water bottles and books.

Six NYPD officers opened the cooler, took out its contents and carried it off about an hour later, when the department said there was no threat.

The department has had a 30 percent uptick in the number of suspicious package reports since the failed bombing in Times Square.

No evacuations have been ordered from buildings, but workers were told to stay indoors as the police responded. Cars approaching the area were told to turn back as an eerie silence descended on the area.