Child, 12, is charged after chucking alcohol bottles from 32nd floor of Times Square hotel hitting a 24-year-old woman on the head

A 12-year-old child has been charged with reckless endangerment after throwing a bottle of alcohol from the 32nd floor of a New York City hotel skyscraper.

A woman was injured when the bottle fell to the ground, hitting her on the head before shattering at the Intercontinental Times Square.

The incident initially caused panic and caused West 44th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues to be closed for a short time Friday evening just before 5 p.m., after those on the street below believed the noise was the sound of gunshots.

The perpetrators also included an 11-year-old girl who was staying at the hotel with their guardians when they carried out the reckless stunt.

The 12-year-old was charged as a juvenile with reckless endangerment, but the 11-year-old was not charged due to her age.

It is believed that the bottle thrown was of the shooter type, often the type found in a hotel minibar.

Despite its relatively small size, a 24-year-old woman was injured after being cut in the head by the glass. She was taken to Bellevue Hospital and is reported to be in stable condition.

“It sounded like an explosion or gunshots,” a passerby exclaimed.

“I understand why people thought it was gunshots. “If something falls 32 stories and hits the ground, it will make a loud noise,” an NYPD officer told the New York Post.

The closure of the street lasted more than an hour and prevented customers from leaving the parking facility.

An employee at a nearby Shake Shack branch told The Post they believed someone was trying to jump out of one of the hotel windows.

It forced workers to shelter in place for more than three hours.

'I thought it was suicide. Everyone looked up when I walked to work,” 21-year-old Maria Vasketsova, who works at Sugar Factory, told the newspaper.

The incident came just hours after New York City Mayor Eric Adams detailed how security around Times Square is being stepped up ahead of the city's New Year's Eve celebrations on Sunday evening.

Although no safety risks have currently been identified associated with the festivities in the heart of Manhattan, the New York Police Department (NYPD) is taking precautions.

Pro-Palestinian groups have expressed their intention to protest in Times Square against the Israeli military campaign in the Gaza Strip, which had already disrupted the Thanksgiving Day parade and the lighting of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree.

Mayor Adams, along with top NYPD officials, held a press conference Friday afternoon in which they emphasized their continued vigilance due to previous incidents, such as an attack on NYPD officers during the Times Square ball drop last year.

“There are no specific threats to the city, but as we saw last year, you don't have to have a specific threat to have a threat, and we will be ready,” the mayor said.

“Hundreds of thousands of people will be queuing here, and no matter how many times we see it, you never get used to it, the excitement continues again and again,” he said.

Times Square will be locked down from around noon on New Year's Eve and anyone wishing to enter the area must pass through police and security checkpoints.