[link to www.cbsnews.com]

Hmmmm....

(CBS) A van parked in the heart of Times Square with tinted windows, no license plates and a bogus law enforcement placard led the police to briefly evacuate the tourist hot spot and send in a bomb squad on the day before the area's New Year's Eve gathering.

No explosive devices were found inside the white van Wednesday afternoon, and the area was reopened to traffic about two hours after the incident began.

The van was spotted by patrol officers around 11 a.m. Wednesday on Broadway between 41st and 42nd Streets, and counterterrorism and bomb squad crews responded. The area was blocked off and two high-rise buildings home to Nasdaq and publishing company Conde Nast were partially evacuated but allowed back in around 1 p.m.

Nasdaq said its trading was unaffected. Conde Nast was in the process of evacuating when the order was lifted.

There were no corresponding terror threats involving the vehicle, said chief NYPD spokesman Paul J. Browne.

But police take extra care around New Year's Eve when the ball-drop celebration draws hundreds of thousands of revelers to the heart of Times Square from around the world. Squads routinely patrol for suspicious vehicles and do sweeps in garages before the annual event.

"Its presence in Times Square just before New Year's Eve causes us concern, and that's why we're taking extra precautions," he said.