New York City police officials have dispatched heavily armed officers to Times Square and other locations as a precaution in response to the van attack in Spain.
NYPD spokesman Peter Donald said on Thursday that the department is “closely monitoring” the situation in Barcelona, where the van rammed into a crowd in a popular tourist section of the city.
Donald said the NYPD has also beefed up security around Spanish diplomatic spots in the city.
The Barcelona attack killed 13 people and injured dozens of others. Authorities there were investigating it as an act of terror.
The precautions come at a time when the department had taken extra security measures around Trump Tower for the president’s visit there this week.
Also on Thursday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo directed that the lights on the spire of One World Trade Center be lit in red and yellow — the colors of the Spanish flag.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.