Manhattan, NY +Suspicious Truck+

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    Manhattan, NY +Suspicious Truck+ NYPD calling for a level one mobilization for a suspicious truck with toxic materials on it at the West Side Highway and West 68th Street, FDNY are enroute, Haz-Mat requested.

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    BSSP
    BSSP
    16 years ago

    What turned out to be a misplaced bag containing cologne and a panel truck that had not moved from a construction site in several days brought dozens of police officers, firefighters and bomb experts yesterday to reports of suspicious packages at Kennedy International Airport and the Upper West Side.
    The separate reports were not unusual in their circumstances or number, as the police typically investigate hundreds of suspicious packages a week. But coming so soon after failed car bombings in London and an attack on the Glasgow Airport that the authorities said were linked, the police activity brought intense scrutiny and, among witnesses, reactions ranging from weary acceptance to unease.
    The first report came from Kennedy Airport at 10:20 a.m., when someone discovered a carry-on bag by the curb in front of Terminal Nine, used by American Airlines. The area around the bag was cleared, but the terminal was not evacuated, said Steve Coleman, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which led the brief investigation. The New York Police Department sent a bomb squad to investigate the bag.
    “They determined that the package contained cologne,” Mr. Coleman said. Dealing with the situation took about an hour, he said.
    “We handle these all the same, with the utmost caution,” he said.
    Passengers flying out on American Airlines seemed to shrug off the diversion. “People are a little nervous, that’s all. Understandably so,” said Marvin Fink of Ditmas Park, Brooklyn, who was on his way to India. “Hopefully, security, police and everyone else is doing their job.”
    About the time the cologne was removed from outside the airport, another call sent officers to a spot under the West Side Highway near 68th Street in Manhattan, a construction site where an unmarked panel truck had been parked for days.
    When none of the subcontractors had claimed the truck, someone called the police, witnesses said. More than 20 police vehicles and seven fire trucks arrived, said Alfredo Corderro, 41, who was photographing boats at the time. Officers arrived with a robot that searched under the truck and cameras that they snaked into drainage pipes nearby.
    The investigation blocked access to Riverside Park for about an hour. “People are asking, ‘What’s going on?’ but they just told them, ‘You can’t go in right now,’ ” Mr. Corderro said.
    After the police hauled the truck away, there was speculation that it had broken down. “But the contractor didn’t know who the truck belonged to,” Mr. Corderro said. “There were no signs on it.” The truck was properly identified about 12:40 p.m. and deemed not suspicious, the police said.
    In the affluent neighborhood surrounding the site, residents had mixed feelings about the heavy police turnout.
    “Checking backpacks, checking trucks, all these silly things we do across the city, I think it’s more to give people peace of mind,” said Rande Davis Gedaliah.
    Her husband, Robert Gedaliah, disagreed. “I think if a car or truck is parked in one place for a long time, you have to check it out,” he said. “That’s just smart.”