No bomb in Times Square; Nasdaq workers return

NEW YORK - New York City's Times Square has been reopened to traffic - and employees, including those at Nasdaq headquarters, returned to their offices - after a bomb squad found no explosive devices in an abandoned van parked in the area.

The squad used a robot-based camera to approach the vehicle and open it Wednesday. Police say they found clothing inside.

The area around 42d Street between Seventh Avenue and Broadway was briefly blocked off as a precaution, and two high-rise buildings home to Nasdaq and Conde Nast were partially evacuated.

"In regard to events at the Nasdaq Market Site, trading at Nasdaq is unaffected. All Nasdaq systems are operating normally," said an announcement posted on the Nasdaq Web site at 1:10 this afternoon.

The van has tinted windows, and a placard from a nonexistent law enforcement agency is on the dashboard. It has no license plates, but a temporary registration was found inside the van and officers are trying to locate the owner.

Police officers on patrol noticed the van around mid-morning Wednesday. Security is tight as the New Year approaches.

Trading was halted yesterday for about an hour and a half on the Nasdaq OMX PHLX - as the former Philadelphia Stock Exchange is known - because there was smoke in the building at 1900 Market St. in Philadelphia.