Fake bomb or art statement, man arrested

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BROOKLYN, N.Y., May 21 (UPI) -- A man was arrested after he placed illuminated shopping bags in New York City, an artistic statement interpreted as a bomb threat, police said.

Brooklyn designer Takeshi Miyakawa, 50, was arrested early Saturday while installing an illuminated plastic tote bag with the iconic "I (Heart) New York" emblem on a lamppost in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, the New York Post reported Monday.

The bag contained wiring, and was similar to a bag found the day before attached to a tree on Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn, in an incident that forced the evacuation of the area for 2 hours before the New York Police Department deemed the device harmless, police said.

Miyakawa installed the bags throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn as an artistic statement meant to coincide with "NY Design Week," the newspaper said.

He was arrested on charges of reckless endangerment and placing a false bomb, and arraigned Sunday in Brooklyn Criminal Court. Judge Martin Murphy did not impose bail but ordered Miyakawa held for a month to undergo a mental evaluation, court records said.