NYC Police stop suspected terrorist attack in Times Square

Vendors alerted New York City Police Saturday Night to a suspicious vehicle in Times Square, which in turn, halted an attempt to detonate what is described an 'amateurish' but potentially powerful car bomb in the area adjacent to the Minskoff Theatre where the Broadway production of Disney's Lion King is housed.

It's believed that police interrupted the bomber as he was trying to ignite the bomb and he fled the scene.

Inside the idling sports utility vehicle, police found propane tanks, a timing device, red plastic tanks of gasoline and gunpowder.

The streets were cleared of thousands of tourists and residents for close to 10 hours and New York Governor David Paterson is calling the unsuccessful bombing attempt as an "act of terrorism."

"We are very lucky," said New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. "Thanks to alert New Yorkers and professional police officers we avoided what could have been a very deadly event."