New York (CNN) — A suspicious package in Times Square prompted an evacuation and raised alarms in a jittery city Friday afternoon until authorities determined it was a false alarm.
Investigators determined after an anxious hour or so that the suspicious package — a green cooler — contained only water bottles.
The cooler was found near 45th Street and Broadway, outside the Marriott Marquis hotel, witnesses and police said. That’s near where authorities say a U.S. citizen of Pakistani descent left a car bomb that failed to detonate six days before.
Police evacuated parts of Times Square around 1 p.m. ET as they investigated, though people remained in the hotel and nearby buildings, said Kathy Duffy, a hotel spokeswoman.
