MIDTOWN — A suspicious package that turned out to be a harmless metal box shut down a busy subway station at 53rd Street and Seventh Avenue during rush hour Thursday evening, police said.
Emergency responders and the NYPD's bomb squad flooded the B/D/E station about 5 p.m. Thursday after the box was found on the northbound B/D platform, the NYPD said.
Frustrated straphangers who were trying to get home were turned away at the subway entrances, which were blocked off with police tape, and West 53rd Street was closed to traffic at Broadway, according to Notify NYC.
The station reopened about 6:30 p.m. after the NYPD found that the empty metal box did not pose a threat.
All trains resumed their normal routes, the MTA said.