Trump Tower, the site used as President-elect Donald Trump’s primary residence, has been evacuated after a “suspicious package”, that later turned out to be an unattended backpack filled with children’s toys, was found in the lobby.
Mr Trump, who is spending the holidays at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, was not present at the time, Independent reported.
A video of the evacuation shared on Twitter, shows guests running out of the hotel lobby as police shout “Out! Out!”.
The New Yew Police Department (NYPD) bomb squad responded to the situation “out of an abundance of caution”, J. Peter Donald, NYPD’s spokesperson, wrote on Twitter.
The scene was later deemed safe when authorities found that the suspicious package was in fact an unattended bag of toys and c posed no threat.
Mr Trump’s flagship Fifth Avenue building has been the primary site of the President-elect’s presidential transition efforts as he prepares for his inauguration on January 20r.
The lobby of the Trump Tower is accessible to the public from 8am to 10pm under the terms of an agreement with the city, according to the Washington Post. New York City officials have complained about the massive amount of resources being used by security, since the presidential transition process has begun.
Sean Spicer, the incoming White House press secretary, tweeted that official were “back to work” following the “false alarm”.
“Thanks NYPD”, he added.
“No problem. We’ll send you the bill,” Eric Phillips, spokesman for New York Mayor Bill de Blasio — quickly fired back.
De Blasio sought federal funding last month to help New York pay for Mr Trump’s security detail, which reportedly costs the city $1m per day.
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