Suspicious Package Near Battery Park City School Was False Alarm

BATTERY PARK CITY, NY — The suspicious package discovered near a Lower Manhattan middle school Wednesday turned out to be a false alarm, officials said.

Police said officers responded to a 12:37 p.m. call of a suspicious suitcase at 55 Battery Place between First and Second places but found nothing, police said.

The school's principal said the suitcase was actually reported to be at a hotel and apartment building opposite the school and not on Department of Education property.

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The false alarm came on the heels of a Wednesday morning evacuation of the Time Warner Center in Columbus Circle after an explosive device and white powder were mailed to the CNN newsroom offices.

The device discovered at CNN's headquarters is similar to pipe bombs that were recently mailed to the homes of former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The explosives were found just two days after a package that contained bomb components was left outside a home owned by billionaire philanthropist and liberal donor George Soros.

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