A friend of mine was held (with others) under the Marriott Saturday night while police investigated the scene.
It seems to me that with all the webcams trained in on Times Square, catching the culprit should be easy.
In fact, if I am not mistaken, this is near a hotel I stayed at last time I went to NY, and there are two webcams right there. [UPDATE: There are 82 police surveillance cameras in the area under review by authorities, who are also seeking to get footage from private cameras, the Wall Street Journal reports.]
My guess is that the attempted bombing Friday night was not the handiwork of international extremists. Probably some disturbed individual and/or a teabagger.
UPDATE: Video released of suspicious person changing his shirt a block or so from the car:
Police plan to release another video, taken by a tourist, in which the same man is seen running north on Broadway, Kelly told CNN Monday morning.
MORE UPDATES:
Police were able to find the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) on the engine block of the SUV — even though it had been obliterated in at least one other place on the vehicle — and thus identify the registered owner of the Pathfinder, Newsweek reports. An unnamed law enforcement official told the magazine that the VIN was not reported stolen, nor was the Connecticut license plate — registered with a different vehicle — attached to the SUV.
The plates on the SUV were traced to a truck at Kramer's Used Auto Parts in Stratford, CT. The junkyard's owner, Wayne LeBlanc, was visited by FBI agents late Saturday night. He tells the Daily News that the "truck had plates on it when it was brought in for repairs three weeks ago." And he tells the Times that agents took away a black Ford F-150.
A Times Square vendor, Duane Jackson, who looked on the vehicle saw keys in the ignition with about 20 keys on a ring, the AP reports.