Hundreds of passengers were evacuated from the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday night when a suspicious bag was reported at Gate 75, the agency said.
The Port Authority Police Department received the report about the bag at about 8:24 p.m., and the evacuation was ordered moments later. The bag was determined to pose no risk after 10 p.m., the Port Authority said.
The New York City Fire Department said that it had received a call about a suspicious device just after 9 p.m. and that firefighters and emergency crews had stood by while police officers cleared the area.
By 10:30 p.m., the Fire Department had left, and no injuries were reported, though the commutes of many passengers had been disrupted.
The New York City Emergency Management Department sent out an alert to New Yorkers around 9:20 p.m. saying that traffic delays and mass transit disruptions could be expected because of the police activity.
“Avoid the area,” the alert said.
The emergency response caused delays at one of the busiest bus terminals in the United States. The bus terminal serves as many as 260,000 passengers traveling between Manhattan and New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania and the Lower Hudson Valley each weekday.
Joann Veneziano was one of the hundreds of people waiting outside the building on Wednesday night, checking her phone for updates. An Uber back home to New Jersey was priced at about $100, she said, so she was determined to wait it out until the bus terminal opened its doors again.
“I’m feeling pretty annoyed,” she said. “But I’m sure they’ll open soon.”
After passengers were allowed to re-enter the terminal, service was still delayed for some routes, leaving some passengers confused about where their buses could be found.
“Do you know when the next one is coming?” one woman asked an officer.
“Where is it?” another man asked in Spanish as lines roughly 20 people deep wrapped around the waiting area.
The Port Authority Bus Terminal said on X that New Jersey Transit buses would continue to run but that the north wing of terminal and the subway and lower levels would be closed. It did not specify when those areas would reopen.
New Jersey Transit said on X that bus service from the terminal could be delayed by up to 30 minutes because of the police activity.
Some people remained stuck and uncertain as of 10:45 p.m. Firat Delibalta stood with his hands in his pockets behind the closed area on the main floor.
His bus to Albany was scheduled to leave at 10:50 p.m., but the lower level was closed off.
“I’m not sure what’s happening,” he said. “Nothing to do but wait.”