Commuters on the Upper West Side experienced significant delays yesterday after a suspicious package report brought subway service to a halt. According to ABC7NY, the suspicious item, eventually identified as a harmless "cooking instrument," was discovered on the platform of the 86th Street subway station right before 1:30 p.m., raising alarm and calling into question the safety of innocent bystanders.
The New York Police Department's Bomb Squad and K9 units were deployed to swiftly to attend to the situation. The initial discovery caused service interruptions across multiple train lines, disrupting the rhythm of city transit. PIX11 reported that during the chaos, Nos. 1 and 3 train services were suspended between 42nd and 96th Streets, forcing passengers to seek out alternate routes.
Following the closure, police indicated that the device may have belonged to a homeless person, hinting at the broader societal issues that interlace with our city's security concerns. Once the item was deemed non-threatening, the NYPD announced, around 3 p.m., the conclusion of the investigation, with normal service resuming shortly after.
However, despite the all-clear, the trains continued to run with severe delays. The MTA recommended different bus and train routes such as the M5, M11, and M100 buses for Bronx-bound commuters and suggested the 7 train in conjunction with the 4 and 5 trains for those heading to Brooklyn.
