New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has ordered police to investigate a bomb threat in Times Square from an anonymous Internet user and step up patrols in the area.
"The bomb threat made against Times Square is a despicable and cowardly act meant to instill fear and panic in our community, and New Yorkers will not tolerate these scare tactics ... I am directing the New York State Police to coordinate with local and federal partners to launch a full-scale investigation into this incident", Cuomo said in a statement on his website on Sunday.
The governor went on claiming that there was "no indication that this threat is credible," but that NY police "will be on the ground working with NYPD and partners to step up patrols in the area during the day."
Shortly after, NYPD Counterterrorism branch said in a Twitter post that the threat was not believed to be credible but warned of an increased police presence at various locations throughout New York City and Times Square "out of an abundance of caution."
Due to the unconfirmed threats earlier today, we’ve increased our already robust counterterrorism deployments in & around #TimesSquare.
— NYPDCounterterrorism (@NYPDCT) November 24, 2019
Please do not be alarmed.
Currently, there are no specific/credible threats to #NYC & @TimesSquareNYC. #NYPDProtecting pic.twitter.com/qdc7MHL3GV
Three hours later, they again advised residents not to be alarmed and said that they had increased their counterterrorism deployments in and around Times Square.
