New York steps up security in wake of bike path terror attack

NEW YORK (WABC) -- New Yorkers woke to a heavy police presence Wednesday outside the World Trade Center and at other locations around the city in the wake of the bike path truck attack that left eight people dead and about a dozen injured.

A roughly two-mile stretch of highway in lower Manhattan was shut down for the investigation, and runners and cyclists who use the popular bike path were diverted away from the crime scene by officers stationed at barricades.

On the morning after the bloodshed, city leaders vowed New York would not be intimidated, and they commended New Yorkers for going ahead with Halloween festivities on Tuesday night. They also said Sunday's New York City Marathon, with 50,000 participants and some 2 million spectators anticipated, will go on as scheduled.

"We will not be cowed," Mayor Bill de Blasio said. "We will not be thrown off by anything."

While the mayor said there have been no credible threats of any additional attacks, police announced the deployment of sniper teams, bomb-sniffing dogs, helicopters, sand-truck barricades and other stepped-up security measures along the marathon route, in the subways and at other sites.

Police Commissioner James O'Neill urged all New Yorkers to be the eyes and ears of the police and come forward if they see "something that doesn't look right."

Commuters say the city feels and looks different, with uniformed officers having taken up positions across the city with bomb-sniffing dogs patrolling the streets and the transit terminals alongside National Guard soldiers and tactical teams with heavy weapons and body armor.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo increased security at airports, bridges, tunnels and mass transit systems around the state and said additional security personnel are being deployed to high-density areas and large public gatherings.

Authorities say 29-year-old Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov came to the United States seven years ago from Uzbekistan under what is called the Diversity Visa Program, which offers a lottery for people from countries with few immigrants in America. Sources tell ABC News that in addition to an address in Tampa, he also lived in Ohio and most recently, in Paterson, New Jersey, where he lived with his wife and three children, according to a law enforcement official.

He was also the registered statutory agent for a pair of Ohio-based trucking companies: Sayf Motors Inc. in Cincinnati, and Bright Auto LLC in Cuyahoga Falls. It is believed he rented the truck at a Home Depot in Passaic.

Related: Bike path rampage -- What we know about the suspect

(The Associated Press contributed to this report)