Bomb Threat Disrupts Flights at 3 Airports in New York City Area

The New York City area’s three major airports were closed for more than an hour and hundreds of flights were delayed Monday after a bomb threat forced the evacuation of an air traffic control center.

Arrivals and departures of 210 planes were halted from 5:45 p.m. EDT to shortly before 7 p.m. at John F. Kennedy and La Guardia airports in New York, and at Newark International Airport in New Jersey, said Port Authority spokesman Peter Yerkes.

Joy D. Faber, another Port Authority spokeswoman, warned that there would be residual delays after the airports reopened.

The threat forced evacuation of most of the 80 workers at the air traffic control center on Long Island. The center guides landings and takeoffs for all three airports. It also controls traffic at Westchester County Airport north of New York City and Teterboro Airport in Bergen County, N.J.

The center was reopened after police officers searched the building with bomb-sniffing dogs, said James Fullam, spokesman for the Nassau County Police Department.

Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Arlene Salac said FAA security and the FBI joined in the search. She said some flights were diverted to Boston and Philadelphia.

Security has been tightened at area airports for the last two weeks after officials reported that they had received warning of a possible attack by terrorists.