Police have blocked off parts of Times Square and evacuated people because of a suspicious cooler left in Times Square.
[Updated at 6:06 p.m.] Read the full CNN.com story
[Updated at 2:32 p.m.] Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York acknowledged after that incident that terrorists have targeted New York.
"We have to take every precaution, as you know, because we remain a prime target for terrorists," he said. "That's something all New Yorkers understand and it's something that we need Washington to understand as well."
"We will continue to doing everything we possibly can to protect New Yorkers from terrorist attacks. We have, as you know, built the most comprehensive and sophisticated counter terrorism operation of any local police force in the world."
[Updated at 2:24 p.m.] An all-clear was declared Friday after authorities investigated a suspicious package left in front of a hotel in Times Square and determined that it contained water bottles, police said.
[Updated at 2:10 p.m.] The New York Police Department has deployed a robot to X-ray the cooler that was abandoned in front of the Marriott Marquis hotel in Times Square, police told CNN's Susan Candiotti.
[Updated at 2:15 p.m.] A bomb squad robot has completed its X-ray of the suspicious cooler left in Times Square, CNN's Susan Candiotti reported. But, the results were inconclusive.
Members of the bomb squad are now suiting up to get a closer look.
iReport.com: Are you there? Send photos, videos
iReport.com: See photos from Times Square
[Updated at 2:01 p.m.] CNN's Ali Velshi who is on 47th Street and Broadway reports: "Times Square is entirely empty" on certain blocks.
[Updated at 1:58 p.m.] Kathy Duffy, who is in her office at the Marriott Marquis hotel, told CNN the Times Square Alliance said there was an abandoned cooler left outside. Duffy said officials told her that the bomb squad was trying to determine if it was a threat. She said that the hotel has not been told to evacuate.
[Updated at 1:51 p.m.] A spokesman for the Times Square Alliance says, according to the NYPD, the following streets are closed:
[Updated at 1:45 p.m.] The suspicious package that prompted evacuations in New York's Times Square is a white cooler that was left near the front of the Marriott Marquis Hotel, police told CNN.
The area is not far from where Faisal Shahzad left his SUV that had explosives in it.
People were evacuated from the streets of Times Square after a report of a suspicious package.
[Posted at 1:24 p.m.] Times Square has been evacuated after a suspicious package was found near 45th street, a New York Police Department official said.
The package was found near 45th Street and Broadway, officials said.
The evacuation comes six days after an SUV with explosives was left in Times Square resulting in the arrest of Faisal Shahzad.
This story is developing. We'll bring you the latest information as we get it.
I feel bad for the people of New York! So much to go through!
I work a couple blockas away, was just outside and didn't notice a thing besides the usual luch crowd on a nice day.
To all ye naysayers trivializing the threat....
(forget it, you aren't worth the effort)
The intention of terrorism is to breed paranoia. What can we do but respond each time and try to protect innocent life?
really paranoia...cmon have to be safe....stupid people brushing it off
with these recent bomb scares, i'm begining to think these aren't isolated occurances. there is probably some sort of operation, hopefully this will get straightned out. i'm getting scared.
I hope sbarro's pizza doesnt leave time square. i love that place.
Didn't we have another panic just last night because somebody's U-Haul started leaking gas?
The terrorists have won. You're all freaking out over what is probably nothing.
I was just there, eating lunch at one of the outdoor tables. It's probably nothing, but once we realized it wasn't just a film shoot or something, figured it was time to head back to the office. Rumors in the crowd were that it was a lunch bag, but that's just rumors in the crowd...
"immediate death penalty should be imposed for all terrorists and anyone related to it they are jeopardizing the lives of innocent people"
No. This is exactly what the terrorists want us to do.
Let's Have A Parade!!
I would hope that this situation is clearly not the type fo incident happened last week ago by the car bomb incident. Secondly, i would imagine how scarely on what would it comes into terms if the package is being touched and deonated...
hopefully i would also wished that the revelant authorities should consider deploying armed patrols in the streets to safeguard the situation itself...
This kind of hysteria is exactly what will drive more of these incidents. Look at the disruption. Unnecessary.
Maybe its a distraction for something else to take place.
I watch too much 24
The terrorists are winning. The key to terrorism is the word terror. When they have us living in fear, altering our daily lives, they've won. I for one am not going to live in fear, but it seems too many others are.