A speeding car has ploughed into pedestrians on a footpath in New York City's busy Times Square, killing one person and injuring 22, authorities say.

Key points: Crash happened during busy midday period

Crash happened during busy midday period 26-year-old male from New York in custody

26-year-old male from New York in custody Hundreds of thousands of people pass through the Times Square area daily

There was no indication it was an act of terrorism, officials said.

Witnesses said the motorist was driving against traffic before his burgundy Honda sedan mounted the footpath and struck pedestrians.

The car hit a pole and came to rest at 45th Street and Broadway before police arrested the driver.

One woman was covered with a bloodstained blanket following the collision, which occurred close to midday (local time) at the Midtown Manhattan tourist venue, a witness said.

Shoes were scattered at the scene — city officials said the dead woman was 18 years old.

This article contains content that is not yet available here.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said the driver had two previous arrests for drink driving.

Police identified the motorist as Navy veteran Richard Rojas, 26, of New York — he was taken into custody and was undergoing tests for alcohol and drugs, police commissioner James O'Neill said.

Richard Rojas was taken into custody after the incident. ( AP: Oscar Navarro Reyes )

Police said Rojas made a quick U-turn onto 42nd Street and then drove up the footpath for three blocks, passing tourist draws like the Hard Rock Cafe and the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company restaurant and mowing people down before slamming into a pole.

He fought with officers who handcuffed him, authorities said.

The vehicle was checked by the bomb squad and some city landmarks were getting a beefed up police presence "out of an abundance of caution", Mr de Blasio said.

Hundreds of thousands of people, many of them tourists from around the world, pass daily through the bustling commercial area, the heart of the Broadway theatre district.

Police heavily patrol the area. Many footpaths are lined with barricades and planters for fear of vehicle attacks on pedestrians of a sort seen in recent months in Britain, France, Germany and Sweden.

"People were being hit and rolling off the car," said Josh Duboff, an employee at the adjacent Thomson Reuters headquarters who jumped out of the way to avoid being struck.

US Navy records show Rojas enlisted in September 2011 and was based in Illinois and Florida, working as an electrician's mate fireman apprentice.

He was arrested a year later at a naval base in Jacksonville, Florida, where officials said he attacked a cab driver, shouted "my life is over", and threatened to kill police, according to court records.

Rojas was charged with misdemeanour battery and resisting an officer without violence, but it was unclear how the case was resolved.

US Navy records show he spent two months in a military prison in Charleston, South Carolina, in the summer of 2013, but did not say why. He left the Navy in May 2014.

'He didn't stop. He just kept going'

The car came to a stop on the corner of Broadway and 45th Street in New York's Times Square. ( AP: Seth Wenig )

Television footage showed police officers restraining a man in a dark T-shirt and placing him in a police car.

"One male in custody in the #TimesSquare vehicle collision," the NYPD said on Twitter.

"It is believed to be an isolated incident, it remains under investigation."

Loading...

The White House said President Donald Trump was informed of the situation and would continue to be briefed.

Police cordoned off an area from 41st to 47th streets and from 6th to 8th avenues, effectively shutting down one of the busiest parts of one of the busiest cities in the world.

Australian John Cox was on 42nd Street when the incident happened.

"The scene here is really terrible. There is a lot of New Yorkers and tourists standing around really devastated and there's hundreds and hundreds of police officers," he said.

"It's a really sad scene. It's really eerie."

Cheryl Howard and her daughter were out shopping when the car sped down the footpath.

"I'm so freaked out!" the daughter said. "They mowed everyone down."

"He's just mowing down people," said Asa Lowe, of Brooklyn, who was standing outside a store when he heard screaming.

"He didn't stop. He just kept going."

After the car struck the barricade and stopped, the driver climbed out of his vehicle, Mr Lowe said.

"He just started running until people tackled him down," he said.

Initial reports of the incident revived memories of July last year when a man driving a truck killed at least 84 people, 10 of them children, and injured 202 in the French city of Nice. Islamic State claimed responsibility.

On March 22, five people were killed in London and about 40 injured after a car hit pedestrians and a suspected Islamist-inspired attacker stabbed a policeman near Britain's Parliament.

The smashed car, lower right, and emergency services in New York's Times Square. ( AP: Seth Wenig )

Reuters/AP

