New York: Subway security boosted in response to threat

A "credible threat" to the subway system has prompted a vast mobilization of police officers, officials said Thursday. Mayor Michael Bloomberg appeared at a news conference alongside Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly in which they announced the threat, which they said originated overseas.

Bloomberg said it was the most specific threat New York officials had received to date; no one in New York has been arrested, he said. Kelly asked the public to report suspicious people or activities. Police planned to start looking through bags, brief cases, baby strollers and luggage as they launched a large-scale search of New York's mass transit system, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

Hundreds of officers were dispatched early this afternoon to every station in Manhattan -- and possibly system wide -- to thwart the attack. Scores of officers from various narcotics units are being called in to assist in patrolling the subways, with many expected to convene first at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

Police sources also said that cops were expected to be kept on 12-hour tours over the weekend. A law enforcement official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Associated Press that the threat is "specific to place, time and method," and that the method is bombing.

The threat comes as the city emerges from two days of hightened alert during the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashana. Police officers patrolled outside of synagogues as thousands of congregants attended services. MTA officials said they were unaware of the threat until alerted by a reporter.