Police thwarted a Saturday-night attempt to detonate a car bomb in Times Square, immediately adjacent to the Minskoff Theatre where Broadway production of Disney's Lion King is staged.
New York Governor David Paterson described the unsuccessful bombing attempt as an "act of terrorism."
It's believed that police interrupted the bomber as he was trying to ignite the bomb and he fled the scene.
"We are very lucky," said New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. "Thanks to alert New Yorkers and professional police officers we avoided what could have been a very deadly event."
Inside the idling sports utility vehicle, police found propane tanks, a timing device, red plastic tanks of gasoline and gunpowder.
Much of Times Square was evacuated while police dealt with the situation.
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