New York police, already on high alert because of persistent terrorism threats, further increased security Sunday after the federal government raised the terror threat level to orange for the city's financial sector.

Citing "new and unusually specific information," Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge Sunday raised the terror threat levelto orange for the financial services sector in New York City, northern New Jersey and Washington, D.C.

Ridge said Al-Qaeda could be targeting several specific buildings: the New York Stock Exchange and Citigroup buildings in New York; Prudential Financial in Newark; and the World Bank's andInternational Monetary Fund's headquarters in Washington D.C.

Officials do not know when an attack may be planned, but said that the threat would last through the November election, Ridge noted.

In response to the raised alert level, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg assured New Yorkers that the city has ramped up securityeven further at the named location as well as other potential targets.

"We are deploying a full array of counter-terrorism resources,"he said. "We will spare no expense, and we will take no chances. We will be watching and protecting the city through never-ending vigilance."

Special anti-terror police teams known as Hercules units gathered at the Citicorp building. Bloomberg said they would be elsewhere, too.

Although the color code will not change in the city, the mayor and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said that more police and security personnel will be assigned in and around the New York Stock Exchange and Citigroup's offices in Midtown and Long Island City, Queens, as well as other sensitive locations and subway stops across the city.

Vehicles in the areas and in nearby parking garages will be subject to search, and employees, visitors, and packages entering the buildings will face closer screening.

There will also be more vehicle stops at river crossings, and trucks are banned from the Williamsburg Bridge until further notice. The police commissioner warned that there could be some traffic delays as a result starting Monday morning.

Bloomberg and Kelly urged city residents to report suspicious activity to authorities via the 311 hotline and to call 911 for emergencies or situations needing immediate attention, such as a suspicious package.

The homeland security chief said a confluence of intelligence over the weekend points to a car or truck bomb attack. He said thenew intelligence reports "have provided a level of detail that is very specific."

But he said the alert status will remain yellow, or "elevated,"for the rest of the country. This is the first time the Homeland Security Department has singled out certain places for higher alert.

Source: Xinhua