PATH train service between New Jersey and Manhattan was temporarily halted due to police activity after a suspicious package was reported at the 14th Street station in Manhattan. The package, initially feared to be an "explosive device", was found at the intersection of West 13th Street and 6th Avenue, leading to the suspension of service and significant commuter disruption, according to Gothamist.
The NYPD bomb squad was dispatched to the scene where they analyzed the package, which led to a suspension of PATH service on the Journal Square to 33rd Street and Hoboken to 33rd Street lines, in the middle of the afternoon potentially affecting thousands of commuters, the Port Authority police received the initial reports around 1:50 p.m. on Monday, with full service resuming later in the afternoon at approximately 3:46 p.m., The Mirror detailed the timeline of events.
During the service interruption, alternative transportation options were provided—NJ Transit trains and the 126 bus cross-honored PATH tickets at Hoboken, Newark, Secaucus, and New York Penn Station to assist stranded passengers; this system of mutual ticket acceptance ended shortly after PATH's resumption of service. The Port Authority police have continued their investigation into the incident, as previously reported by Gothamist.
While the service was down, PATH officials urged riders to use alternate routes and stay informed through updates provided via social media and the RidePATH app which sends push service alerts that can be customized to the rider's specific route and time, the Port Authority Police Department's active investigation into several aspects of this security scare means that not all information has been released to the public as details are still being unraveled, service eventually resumed after a thorough safety clearance with PATH workers expressing their apologies for the disruption, "We apologize for the inconvenience," a statement echoed in communications from PATH, as per The Mirror.
