At a press conference this afternoon, Mayor Michael Bloomberg told reporters that the FBI informed him last night New York City was "next on [the] list of targets" for the Boston bombing suspects.
Bloomberg's announcement comes after NBC News reported that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the surviving suspect in last week's Boston marathon bombings, had told investigators that he and his brother discussed using the rest of their explosives in Times Square.
"We don't know if we would have been able to stop the terrorists if they arrived from Boston," Bloomberg said, but he was "thankful" they didn't have to learn the answer.
Ray Kelly, New York Police Department Commissioner, told reporters that the suspects are believed to have had six bombs at their disposal, including a number of pipe bombs and a pressure cooker bomb (like that used at the Boston Marathon).
Kelly described the plan as "spontaneous," only coming after the pair had carjacked a vehicle in the Boston area on Thursday night. A man who was carjacked by the suspects has reportedly told investigators that he heard the pair say something about "Manhattan."
According to NBC, Tsarnaev initially told reporters that they had wanted to just visit New York City to "party," but later admitted discussing a follow-up account. One official said that the plan was “aspirational at most.”
A Twitter account believed to belong to Tsarnaev made reference to prior trips to New York City, and was photographed with a group of people on or before April 18, 2012. The NYPD is investigating who Tsarnaev visited during prior times.
Times Square was the target of an attempted car bomb in 2010.
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