Times square reopened after suspicious “soft-sided cooler” deemed safe
Fears spiked again in a city left jittery from last week’s failed terrorist attack as police swarmed Times Square for the second time in six days. Four blocks around the heart of Manhattan were closed down as police, fire officials and a bomb squad responded to reports of a small soft-sided cooler and grocery bag abandoned on a sidewalk. The bustling area briefly fell silent as officers taped off the street and led bomb sniffing dogs to the parcel outside a hotel at the intersection of 45th street and Broadway. The city breathed a collective sigh of relief when an X-ray showed that the cooler was, in fact, harmless.