UPPER EAST SIDE — The suspicious package discovered at the Guggenheim Museum Tuesday turned out to be a harmless powder contained in an envelope — marking the third such incident in the area this week, police said.
The powder, which was ultimately deemed non-hazardous, drew police to investigate the suspicious item at the popular art museum on Fifth Avenue Tuesday afternoon.
Cops were called to the museum’s ground-floor café near East 88th Street shortly after 12 p.m. and remained there for about four hours. The museum remained open while police probed the matter.
Authorities also investigated a suspicious powder found at a school on East 82nd Street Tuesday morning that turned out to be non-hazardous, a DOE spokeswoman said.
On Monday, police said they responded to a report of an envelope containing white powder at the nearby Neue Galerie on Fifth Avenue and East 86th Street that also proved to be harmless.
Police sources have not determined any link in the three cases, but an investigation is ongoing.
The incidents come during major art shows in Manhattan this week, including the Whitney Biennial at the Whitney Museum on Madison Avenue and East 75th Street, and Armory Arts Week, which kicked off Tuesday with a gala preview at the Park Avenue Armory at East 67th Street.
The Guggenheim, which confirmed the suspicious package Tuesday, but did not immediately return a request for comment Wednesday.
