First 5 floors of Waldorf Astoria evacuated

Fox News Channel | 030603 | FNC

[dep]

First five floors of Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City have been evacuated due to "a suspicious package." Significant because Colin Powell is staying there. Nothing more so far.

[hellinahandcart]

I've been waiting for the other show to drop in this town for a year and a half. Hasn't happened yet. SO it probably won't happen in the next month either. You and your husband should have a wonderful time.

[GovernmentShrinker]

it is a very cold night in nyc, a snowstorm -- or, should i say, a global-warming storm -- having ended a few hours ago. if i were sent out onto the street, i'd be ready to nuke a whole lot of troublemakers in the world. .

Especially if you were paying several hundred dollars a night for your hotel room.

[nicholle]

Per local NYC station (NBC) ...

Package belongs to a hotel guest, but the gun is still a big question.

[hellinahandcart]

SHOE to drop. Not show. Waiting for the other SHOE to drop. DArn, darn, darn.

[Endeavor]

"only saddam's inner circle is allowed to have wires."

Hmmm, I suppose some of the inner circle find the salad excellent at the Waldorf ;>)

[dep]

wor, back in the day, was the best place in the world to work. we had a news director, reg laite, who was simply the best. (he got canned to make room for lou adler, hired away from wcbs at a salary that busted the news budget, so lots of people went away, good reporters.) anyway, reg had a mantra: i'll never fault you for not being first, but i'll always fault you for not being right. something that would well be kept in mind by news outlets all over the place. but that isn't, sadly.

dep

[GovernmentShrinker]

also that a gun had been found in a trash can across the street...

No doubt belonging to some law-abiding citizen (maybe even a hotel guest) who panicked and figured s/he'd better get rid of it, before the incoming swarm of LEOs find it and send said law-abiding citizen off to Rikers.

[Krodg]

Why is it common knowledge where our high ranking officials stay? Haven't we learned anything about homeland security?

What happened to "undisclosed location?"

Jeez....normally it's people crying "Where's Bush?".."Where's Cheney?". Republicans don't like our Repuplican president and Christians aren't happy with our Christian president.....there's just no way to please even your friends all of the time....Dang.

[utvolsfan13]

Fox News reports its a false alarm.

[Naspino]

..suuurrreee it is... "false" alarm. Nothing to see here -- move on.

[NewYorker]

Thanks for the update. Scary scene.

[dep]

oh well. it was a nice little get-together for us anyway.

dep

[concerned about politics]

Package belongs to a hotel guest, but the gun is still a big question.

I can see someone hiding a gun for later in NYC, but a suitcase with wires sticking out of it belonging to a guest? What the......

[hellinahandcart]

False alarm, come on down...hope we can guarantee you three days without snow or rain.

[Krodg]

it would be good if every post added information --

Thank you for all of the 'information' you have added.

[Flyer]

Wo knows what OBL's people will do now

We need to find this Wo character and do some serious interrogation.

---

[TLBSHOW]

— NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City police on Thursday night ordered the evacuation of the lower floors of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, where Secretary of State Colin Powell is staying, after a suspicious package was found.

"They're taking it very seriously," a police spokesman said.

Powell is in New York to attend a key United Nations Security Council session about Iraqi disarmament on Friday. His itinerary includes a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov.

The lower five floors of the luxurious landmark hotel were evacuated some time after 10 p.m. EST, police said. It was not immediately clear how long the evacuation would last.

An official with Powell's party said the secretary was on an upper floor and had not been affected by the evacuation order.

He held meetings earlier at the hotel with his counterparts from Britain, Spain, France and Germany. http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/reuters20030306_749.html

[octobersky]

LOL!

[speedy]

I spent many happy hours in my youth listening to WOR. It was indeed a classic station. Of course, in my youth Joey Reynolds seemed funny -- doesn't come off that way now. Thanks so much for the stories.

[L`enn]

Is there a Waldorf Maspeth too?