NYPD: Suspicious packages were false alarms

New York City police Wednesday investigated two suspicious packages in midtown Manhattan that turned out to be false alarms, the first at an Israel-based bank and the second at Penn Station.

No one was injured in either scare. Police said they do not appear related.

A bomb squad secured a musical greeting card with wires and a battery found at about 10 a.m. at Bank Hapoalim, on the 11th floor of a Sixth Avenue high-rise building, police said. The card had roused suspicion because it was addressed to a bank official but misspelled the bank's name and featured no return address, police said.

Several floors were evacuated for about three hours as a precautionary measure while police and fire officials swept the building, witnesses said. By lunchtime, the location had been declared "all clear" and business had returned to normal, witnesses and police officials said. Officials at Bank Hapoalim could not be reached to comment.

Shortly afterward, at about 1:40 p.m., a bomb squad responded to an unattended backpack between Amtrak Gates 13 and 14 at Penn Station, authorities said. Police evacuated the west end of the station, and commuters and employees were permitted back into the station about half an hour later, said Amtrak spokesman Cliff Cole. No train service was affected, he said.

New York City police said they average between 90 and 100 reports of suspicious packages every day.

- Emily Ngo with AP and

Anthony M. DeStefano