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The Penn Station, one of New York city's major transportation hubs, was reopened Friday morning after a scare was proved to be wrong.
A hazardous materials team was summoned to check out a soda bottle containing suspicious substance near a ticket counter. The liquid was taken out of the station for testing by the city's department of environmental protection. Officials later said the substance posed no threat to passengers.
Some entrances were cordoned off for hours with yellow crime scene tape and part of the concourse above the tracks was also sealed to the public. Commuters heading west out of the station were forced to use another exit.
On Thursday New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and FBI official announced a "specific" terror threat at the city's subways with a bomb hidden in a baby stroller or briefcase.
Officials actually learned of the potential threat over the weekend, but did not alert the public for fear of compromising the investigation.
Federal homeland security officials are downplaying the threat, saying the information is of doubtful credibility, but city officials are not taking any chances.
"If I've got to make a mistake, it's got to be on the side of protecting the people of this city," the mayor said Friday morning." In this case I don't think that we made a mistake. I think that we took the appropriate action, and hopefully we will prevent anything from happening."
Speaking about the scare in Penn Station Friday morning, Police Commissioner Kelly said police were confronted with two jobs, a suspicious package that turned out to be trash and a green bottle with a dye and an acid.
"Our Emergency Service and police officers went in and made an initial determination, then brought it to the Department of Environmental Protection. They're making a final analysis of it, but it appears to be, as I said, a prank," he said.
The day after city and federal officials announced a "specific" terror threat at mass transit, subway riders are seeing extra police officer, more random bag searches, and subway car sweeps.
Commuters are being asked to be extra vigilant and the mayor repeated the advice "if you see something, say something."
(Xinhua News Agency October 8, 2005)
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