The night of the attempted bombing the Times Square Alliance — the business group that promotes the area — discussed preliminary plans to trot out Broadway stars to win scared tourists back. It turned out they didn’t have to.
The failed May 1 car-bombing of Times Square, has renewed attention to security in the tourist mecca, but done little to put off tourists — to the surprise of local businesses.
“I feel that a psychological line has been crossed,” said Tim Tompkins, president of the Times Square Alliance. “In many ways, a false alarm gets people used to the fact that this is part of life in a high-profile area.”
The Marriott Marquis, which had to evacuate some guests the night of the smoking Nissan Pathfinder, was fully occupied last night, a spokeswoman said.
The area may take on visible signs of the kind of high security now seen around Wall Street and the Stock Exchange with permanent checkpoints and cops with automatic weapons, but “the NYPD does a good balance between sending a message and not scaring people,” Tompkins said.
“We fear, in terms of security, our own people — guys drinking too much.” Zane Tankel, CEO of Applebee’s, which has a Times Square outpost.
