FINANCIAL DISTRICT — A stretch of the West Side Highway reopened Wednesday afternoon after being closed for seven hours due to ice plummeting from One World Trade Center, officials said.
The closure, which diverted all drivers away from the northbound and southbound lanes of the highway from the Battery Park Underpass to Murray Street, sparked outrage from drivers between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.
Huge lines of cars stretched north of Canal Street, as Office of Emergency Management officials diverted traffic east.
The NYPD stepped in after getting calls about falling ice onto the roadway about 8:30 a.m., a police spokesman said.
"It looked like a ball. It was loud when it landed, like a crack, a pop. It hit a truck, but everyone was OK," said security guard Muhammad Shakur, 28, who works near the scene.
"It's kind of scary."
Police on the scene also redirected some pedestrian traffic in the area, frustrating those who usually walk to work, witnesses said.
"Usually I just walk from the PATH to the World Financial Center. It takes five minutes. Today, it's taken 30," said Debjani Das, who works at American Express and commutes from New Jersey.
"It's annoying."