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Hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers and tourists braved snow, rain and frigid temperatures last night and early this morning to be a part of the world's most famous welcome to the new year. "It was well worth the frozen toes," said Zach Thomas, 20, of Connecticut, moments after Mayor Bloomberg pushed the button to start the 12-foot, 11,875-pound Waterford crystal ball's descent over Times Square. Richa Pandey, 20, who's from sunny Southern California, was not turned off by the cold. "I like the weather," she said. "It's full of surprises. Just like the city." REUTERS Fireworks and light shows...

Just had folks over...watching the New Years Eve countdown. Heard Carson Daly talking about great things happening including historic health care reform? Anyone else hear this? Turned channel after that...

Here is video of the "Ball Drop" in New York's Times Square to signal the beginning of the new year - 2010. Happy New Year, everyone! . . . . (VIDEO)

For two hours on Wednesday, Times Square morphed into a militarized zone as the police swarmed an unoccupied van with blacked out windows and no license plates parked in an area set aside for Thursday’s New Year’s Eve celebration. Officials said that nothing harmful was found in the van. But the scare illustrated the challenges for local, state and federal law enforcement agencies as they confront an array of security concerns when revelers flood the streets Thursday to ring in 2010. To prepare for the festivities, thousands of police officers, including 250 rookies, will descend on Times Square , said...

Fox News is breaking the following story: A section of Times Square is being cordoned off and their bomb squad has been called in to investigate a suspicious 1992 Dodge Van, which has been parked on the street for at least 2 days. The windows are tinted and there is an interior tarp covering them as well. Other vehicles are being cleared from the vicinity. The Fox reporterette is pointing out that the police are being abundantly cautious due to tomorrow being New Year's Eve, with thousands of people gathering in Times Square.

Times Square Shut Down Due To Suspicious Vehicle 42nd Street And Broadway Closed As NYPD Investigates Park White Van NEW YORK (CBS) ― The NYPD has closed down part of Manhattan's Times Square in response to a report of a suspicious vehicle, CBS 2 HD has learned. Police blocked off Broadway at 42nd Street just after 11 a.m. Wednesday to investigate a white 1992 Dodge van with tinted windows that has been parked at the location for two days. The van has temporary plates and a tarp is covering the windows, police say.

Further proof to support President Barack Obama’s assertion that America is no longer a Judeo-Christian nation will be unveiled on New York’s Eve. When the ball drops at midnight on Times Square, a massive message will appear on the 26-foot by 20-foot JumbroTron not to issue New Year greetings but to maintain that Islam is a religion of peace and goodwill, despite a rash of recent attacks by radical Muslims on American soil.

An undercover cop chased a Times Square scam artist through sidewalks crowded with holiday shoppers and tourists Thursday, exchanged gunfire with the suspect and killed him near a landmark hotel, police said. (snip) When the officer approached, the man took off running the streets and through the Marriott Marquis hotel's passenger drop-off area, Browne said. The sergeant pursued, and the man turned and fired with a Mac-10 machine pistol that held 30 rounds; he got off two shots before it jammed, Browne said. The officer returned fire, killing the suspect, Browne said. It's not clear how many shots he fired....

There aren’t many churches in Christendom where the person sitting next to you is likely a star of stage, screen or television. St. Malachy’s Church, located on 49th Street, between Broadway and Eighth Avenue, founded in 1902, is a little jewel box of a church and an essential and important aspect of New York City’s theatrical community.Because of its location in the midst of the Theatre District — and the number of actors who have graced its precincts — it has come to be known as the Actors’ Chapel. Prior to 1920, St. Malachy’s was a working-class Irish-Italian parish....

NEW YORK – You can see most anything at Times Square in Manhattan. But 60,000 people praying? That's an unusual site in the heart of Broadway. Yet, that's just what happened there yesterday for one hour – from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. in a Christian rally called Prayer in the Square. Event organizers from Time Square Church had expected some 15,000. But their expectations were far exceeded at the third event of its kind in the last three years. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who helped the church cut through the red tape necessary to hold such an...

When New York City announced a plan to shut down parts of Times Square to traffic, New Yorkers’ reactions ranged from bemusement to mild hysteria.Despite reassurances from the Transportation Department that the changes would create a greener, more pedestrian-friendly city, some critics of the plan worried that it would sap the square of its chaotic energy. Others, apparently nostalgic for the seediness of the 1970s version of the square, denounced it as another step in New York’s transformation from the world’s greatest metropolis to a generic tourist trap. Well, I’m happy to report that, a day after the stretch of...

Cheney stressed the US support for the Gaza operation, saying the rocket fire on Israel must stop.

New York Mayor Mikey Bloomberg picked the perfect couple to drop the ball at Times Square tonight: Bill and Hill Clinton. They’ve been dropping the ball for a long time. And it's amazing that, on the eve of 2009, they're still around.

CBN News.com - WASHINGTON - A couple of Christian rights groups placed a nativity scene in front of the U.S. Supreme Court Thursday, as part of an effort to encourage Americans to do the same in front of public buildings all across the United States. The National Clergy Council and the Christian Defense Coalition point out many Americans falsely believe such displays are forbidden, and so creches have disappeared from many places where they used to be commonplace... Sadly we are seeing an erosion of the public expression of faith. Nowhere is this more seen than during the Christmas season,"...

The Christian Defense Coalition will display the Nativity Scene on Saturday, December 6, starting at 10:00 A.M. in Times Square. The location is Broadway and 44th Street right below MTV studios.  The Christian Defense Coalition based in Washington, D.C., thanks New York City for giving permission to publicly display the Nativity.  The display is part of a nationwide campaign called, "The Nativity Project," which encourages individuals and groups to display Nativity Scenes in public places across America. (See Article: http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/486017.aspx) Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, Director of the Christian Defense Coalition, states, "We are seeing a growing hostility toward expressions of faith in the...

Alleged spy seen in video calling Saddam 'our inspired leader' ILLINOIS -- Prosecutors say he spied on dissidents, reported to U.N. mission honeycombed with secret agents. By MIKE ROBINSON Associated Press Writer CHICAGO (AP) -- Jurors watched a video Tuesday in which a man accused of spying on Iraqi dissidents for Saddam Hussein's intelligence service described the dictator as "our inspired leader" and spoke scornfully of "American colonial imperialism." "A light has illuminated our path and our procession toward the struggle and the liberation," Khaled Dumeisi said in describing Hussein at an April 2001 birthday party for the dictator at...

SNIPPET: "A French couple arrested in connection with a series of anarchist attacks on the country's rail network have been linked by the FBI to a bomb attack in New York." ARTICLE SNIPPET: "French anti-terrorist police are holding 10 alleged members of a violent anarchist movement suspected of sabotaging power cables on high speed TGV train lines. But it now transpires that the alleged culprits were netted thanks to information from the FBI, which allegedly linked two of them to the home-made bomb attack on an army recruitment centre in New York's Times Square in March. Julien Coupat, 34, the...

Her image of being bent backward and receiving a passionate kiss from a sailor in Times Square, New York on Aug. 15, 1945 after the surrender of Japan, formally ending World War II, has become one of the most iconic pictures of the 20th Century. Now, 90-years-old Edith Shain of Los Angeles, who claims to be the young woman kissed by the sailor and captured in photo by Life magazine photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt, will be honored by the Navy on Veterans Day on Tuesday.

Democrats for McCain and McCain Manhattan joined forces to rally for McCain in Times Square Thursday evening.The troops started gathering at about 5:30, just north of the military recruiting station. By 6:00 we had a good group together, and soon after that the opposition started from the other side of Seventh Avenue.We outshouted them.And we outlasted them.We had tourists joining us from Switzerland, France, and Israel.Video on Vigilant Squirrel, with more pix promised for today.The police were super, and kept the opposition from infiltrating our rally.It was a very satisfying rally, with real enthusiam. Many thanks to the organizers. I...

When she was arrested in Afghanistan last month, Aafia Siddique allegedly had in her possession maps of New York, a list of potential targets that included the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, the subway system and the animal disease center on Plum Island, detailed chemical, biological and radiological weapon information that has been seen only in a handful of terrorist cases, as well as a thumb drive packed with emails, ABC News has learned.

Aafia Siddique Had a List of Targets in New York & Chem-Bio Weapons Information in her Possession When she was arrested in Afghanistan last month, Aafia Siddique allegedly had in her possession maps of New York, a list of potential targets that included the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, the subway system and the animal disease center on Plum Island, detailed chemical, biological and radiological weapon information that has been seen only in a handful of terrorist cases, as well as a thumb drive packed with emails, ABC News has learned. That haul of information has led multiple government sources...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Grannies holding a knit-in to protest the war in Iraq clashed in a shouting match with pro-war activists in Times Square on Wednesday, the fifth anniversary of the start of the conflict. About 30 member of the Granny Peace Brigade, some sitting in rocking chairs and wheelchairs, were knitting stump socks for veteran amputees and baby clothes for Iraqi families at the Times Square military recruiting station that was damaged by a small bomb on March 6. "You want a piece of granny?" Frederick Olbrey, 70, yelled at about half a dozen war supporters gathered across...

man authorities questioned and quickly cleared in connection with the bombing of a military recruiting station in New York's Times Square criticized the media's depiction of letters he sent to members of Congress. David Karnes, a lawyer who lives in Hollywood, recounted what happened to him in a piece that ran in Saturday's op-ed section of the Los Angeles Times. He said he was relieved to be cleared of any connection to the March 6 bombing, but was disturbed at media accounts that labeled his letters an "anarchist manifesto" and "anti-Iraq war screed." "Speaking out on political matters entails risks,...

Spitzer's sex scandal supplants sedition Posted: March 14, 20081:00 am Eastern © 2008  Portland, Ore.Denver, Colo.St. Louis, Mo.Washington, D.C.Toledo, Ohio.Ithaca, N.Y.Milwaukee, Wis.The list is endless.Red state, blue state, it doesn't matter anymore. What the hell is going on?Attacks on military recruiting centers are taking place all across the United States, and many of our leaders in law enforcement and government don't realize the size and scope of this violent and hateful campaign against our troops here at home. This isn't just an isolated incident in Berkeley, Calif., where everybody knows that there is a fierce anti-war sentiment.You probably also know about...

Saturday, March 08, 2008 Posted By:Catherine MoyPermalinkArmy: Bombing of N.Y. Recruiters was a “fruitless effort” The deviant who bombed the Times Square recruiting station and the punks who harass and attack recruiters in Berkeley and elsewhere should understand something: The United States Army, Air Force, Navy, Coast Guard and Marines don’t flinch when it comes to firebombs, Nazis, despots, Commies, IEDs, or smelly hippies. The Times Square recruiters are back to work. But only a mental weakling would have thought anything different. Army Captain Charles Jaquillard said the incident was like a touch of inclement weather, according to the New...

Left-Wing Anarchists and Connection to NYC Marine Recuriting Center Bombing Written by Melanie Morgan    Friday, 07 March 2008 I am having a flashback. Several, in fact. Each time I write about the bombing of the Marine Recruiting center in New York City, images in my head from the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut meld together. I was there in 1983, reporting for my former employer, ABC.  I spent three weeks examining terrorism up close, and it's hate filled connections to Hamas and Hezbollah.    Marine Compound, Beirut 1983  I still have nightmares about the deaths of 283 Marines...

NEW YORK, New York (CNN) -- The New York Police Department has released photos of a bicycle and a suspect in Thursday's Times Square recruitment center bombing. Police released this surveillance image of a bicyclist believed linked to the Times Square bombing. The photo of the suspect, extracted from surveillance footage and released on Friday, shows someone riding a bicycle away from the scene shortly after the explosion. The second photo shows a metallic blue bicycle that was found abandoned in trash nearby.> Authorities are offering a $12,000 reward for information in that leads to an arrest in the case....

** EXCERPT ** ~snip~ No arrests have been made, no suspects identified. But police investigators said that a blue bicycle recovered at Madison Avenue and 38th Street on Thursday morning was probably the one used by the bomber. A $12,000 reward has been offered for any information that leads to a conviction in the bombing. The station reopened shortly after 5 p.m. on Thursday. On any given day, said Sergeant Latella — a 12-year veteran from Irwin, Pa. — the number of people who walk in depends on the weather. He said it could be about two dozen on a...

Teaming rain, thick soupy fog, miserable weather .......... Gathering of Eagles descended on Times Square and it was great! 100 strong came out to the bombed recruiting station at Times Square to show our soldiers big love. GORGEOUS, all of it. Shiny, happy people. How beautiful is that? The Great One!

The improvised explosive device went off at approximately 3:45 a.m., shattering glass and twisting the building's metal frame. Some will dismiss this as just another attack on our troops in Iraq or Afghanistan. But, the attack didn't take place in the Middle East – the attack against our troops took place here on American soil. The bombing of the military recruiting center located at Times Square in New York City is still under investigation. Police report a hooded individual leaving the scene on a bike just prior to the bomb's explosion. Eight Democratic politicians received letters providing a warning of...

38 years ago today [same day as this morning's bombing of a military recruitment center in New York's Times Square], domestic terrorists got a dose of what they deserved. According to Weather Underground member William Ayers, the bomb they were working on [in a New York City townhouse] was destined for a military dance at Fort Dix. note: the insertions were made by myself (Eye On The Left), and the quote is of an unknown source. it does not appear in the article Read more here:http://www.crimelibrary.com/terrorists_spies/terrorists/brinks/1.html

As a resident of New York City, I just wanted to remark that this really 'smells' of a Revolutionary-Left type action. Some leftist schmuck possibly inspired by the recent publicity given to Obama associate, and former leader of the communist terrorist group, The Weather Underground, William 'Bill' Ayers. --LC (Eye On The Left) Fri, Mar 7, 2008. This short message/warning? right below appeared on a blog on the NY Daily News website this morning, Friday, March 7, 2008: blogger: JahLuv Mar 7, 2008 6:00:23 AM: "I do not believe this was the work of a foreigner or some foreign national....

That, says the Washington Post's Fifth Column of One™ Dana Milbank, is the theme of the new and reinvigorated Hillary! campaign. On the call with Wolfson and Lewis, Jane Hamsher from the liberal blog Firedoglake pointed out that Clinton's phone-ringing ad was "reinforcing the be-afraid-all-the-time Republican campaign theme." And if that's the argument, she added, "isn't John McCain ultimately the winner?"Whether he is or not, Clinton looked as if she'd borrowed a page from the Bush White House at her Westin meeting. Against a backdrop of six U.S. flags and several of the flag officers who support her, she raised...

Clinton, Obama: Own up to feces throwers! The improvised explosive device went off at approximately 3:45 a.m., shattering glass and twisting the building's metal frame. Some will dismiss this as just another attack on our troops in Iraq or Afghanistan. But, the attack didn't take place in the Middle East – the attack against our troops took place here on American soil. The bombing of the military recruiting center located at Times Square in New York City is still under investigation. Police report a hooded individual leaving the scene on a bike just prior to the bomb's explosion. Eight Democratic...

BERKELEY, Calif. -- After a bombing at a Marine recruiting center at Times Square in New York City, Bay Area military supporters came to Berkeley City Hall Thursday to express concerns that the city's Marine recruiting center could suffer a similar attack. Melanie Morgan, a former talk show host at KSFO radio in San Francisco and member of the conservative grass roots political organization "Move America Forward," said she and her group are very concerned. ...continued... [Councilman] Wozniak told Morgan and her group that he felt the situation warranted extra security. "We would not want something like this to happen...

There's apparently no link between the bombing of an military recruiting station in New York's Times Square and letters sent to Congress saying "We did it," law enforcement officials said Friday. The lengthy anti-war letters — which arrived with photos of a man standing in front of the recruiting office before it was damaged — contained no threats and were sent to as many as 100 members of Congress, officials said. Laura Eimiller, an FBI spokeswoman in Los Angeles, said an individual was questioned there about the letters to Congress and "there is no evidence linking the letters, which contained...

The bombing of a military recruitment center keeps getting stranger and stranger. The eight Congressional Representatives from New York City all received a copy of a picture of the targeted office, showing deliberate premeditated intent to hit the recruiting center. They also received a letter, but it contained no threat: Eight House Democrats were mailed a letter and photo of a Times Square recruiting station in Manhattan before it was bombed this morning, according to House insiders.The letter did not contain any specific threats against the lawmakers or the site, but the U.S. Capitol Police and the FBI are now...

Authorities investigating the bombing of a military recruiting center in Times Square have turned their attention to a strange incident at the Canadian border last month.  Four men fled a checkpoint when crossing, and the Canadians arrested two of them.  During questioning, pictures of the center and other apparent targets were found in their backpacks, suggesting a plot in the works: Nearly a full day after the explosion in Times Square, law enforcement officials said they had no suspects. WNBC.com has learned NYPD, Homeland Security and FBI officials are now revisiting an incident that occurred along the Canadian border last...

NEW YORK - WNBC.com has learned that NYPD and FBI officials are now revisiting an incident that occurred along the Canadian border last month because they are concerned there might be a connection to the Times Square explosion. Four men trying to cross the border tried to flee the checkpoint when Canadian officials tried to question them, investigators said. Two of the men got away, officials said. The men left behind a backpack with photos of various New York City locations including Times Square, according to sources speaking on condition of anonymity. One of the photos included the military recruitment...

NEW YORK - WNBC.com has learned that NYPD and FBI officials are now revisiting an incident that occurred along the Canadian border last month because they are concerned there might be a connection to the Times Square explosion. Four men trying to cross the border tried to flee the checkpoint when Canadian officials tried to question them, investigators said. Two of the men got away, officials said. The men left behind a backpack with photos of various New York City locations including Times Square, according to sources speaking on condition of anonymity. One of the photos included the military recruitment...

The Police have allowed us a rally at the Times Square Recruiting Station Island, 43rd Street and Broadway, to holed a patriotic rally as a show of encouragement for our troops and our recruiters in New York City on March 8, 2008, this saturday, from 1300 to 1600 that means 1 to 4 PM Alll who attend are to keep in mind that we must exercise discipline towards any left wing hippie scumbags who WILL show up to slander and take advantage of the situation. This is going to be big, I got confirmation this is a PGR event, GOE...

Eight House Democrats were mailed a letter and photo of a Times Square recruiting station in Manhattan before it was bombed this morning, according to House insiders. The letter did not contain any specific threats against the lawmakers or the site, but the U.S. Capitol Police and the FBI are now investigating the matter. It was unclear which lawmakers received the letters or when, but House aides confirmed they were all Democrats. The New York Times is reporting that the "improvised explosive device" used in the attack "was 'roughly similar”' to the devices used in two earlier bombings at foreign...

WASHINGTON, March 6, 2008 – No one was injured and only minor structural damage was reported after a bomb went off outside the Armed Forces Recruiting Station in New York City’s Times Square early this morning. The bomb went off at about 3:45 a.m., cracking the glass door, bending the door frame and shattering the large glass window in front of the station, said Army Capt. Charlie Jacquillard, the commander for the six Army recruiting stations in Manhattan. The station, jointly manned by Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps recruiters, is possibly the most well-known recruiting station in the...

WASHINGTON - A law enforcement official says police are investigating letters sent to Capitol Hill offices showing pictures of a Times Square military recruiting station that was bombed. According to the official, who was briefed on the investigation, the letters included words to the effect of, "We did it." The official did not know which offices received the letters. The small bomb caused minor damage to the New York military recruiting station before dawn Thursday and police were searching for a hooded bicyclist seen on a surveillance video peddling away.

NEW YORK - A small bomb caused minor damage to a landmark military recruiting station in the heart of Times Square before dawn Thursday, and police were searching for a hooded bicyclist seen on a surveillance video pedaling away. The video shows the bicyclist getting off a bike at 3:40 a.m. Thursday and walking toward the building. A minute or so later, the person returned to the bike and rode away. A brief flash and a cloud of white smoke follows. A bike, believed used in the crime, was later found in the trash on West 38th Street, Police Commissioner...

** EXCERPT ** Latest Update, 10:15 a.m. | The police have attributed the blast to an improvised explosive device, and Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said the device had been placed in an ammunition box like the kind that can be bought at a military supply store. Mr. Kelly spoke with Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg at a news conference at 9:30 a.m. in Times Square. The authorities are looking into a possible connection to two earlier bombings at foreign consulates in Manhattan, in 2005 and 2007. Officials said that in today’s attack, a man in a gray hooded sweatshirt was...

Petraeus: Al Qaida Trying to 'Come Back In' U.S. military officials said there will be no significant reduction in coalition troops in the Baghdad area as part of an effort to stop the Al Qaida offensive in northern Iraq. They said Al Qaida was trying to reenter Baghdad and reverse its losses in 2007. "Al Qaida is trying to come back in," U.S. military commander Gen. David Petraeus said. "We can feel it and see it, and what we're trying to do is rip out any roots before they can get deeply into the ground." Read More Militants Assert...

Breaking: small explosive device thrown at military recruiting office in Times Square, New York City.

Times Square is crammed with tourists, and not just for New Year's Eve. These days, they're eager to gawk at the glittering lights of Broadway and visit attractions like Madame Tussauds Wax Museum and the MTV studios. But 15 years ago, the place was considered a cesspool, overrun with crime and home to sex shops and peep shows. Drug addicts shot up on the street. Locals avoided the neighborhood. The man who has taken the credit for revitalizing Times Square is GOP presidential hopeful and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani. He has made Times Square a symbol for how he tamed...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A section of New York City's Times Square was closed down on Tuesday as police investigated what they described as a possible bomb scare. Several blocks of Seventh Avenue, including along the front of the Reuters building, were closed to traffic as police investigated the suspicious item