(Photo: Katherine Barner)
False alarms have been ringing in the East Village today. First a bomb scare that ended up being golf balls, and then a report of an “unauthorized person” on the 6-train tracks.
Around 2 p.m. today, the corner of Astor Place and Lafayette was crimson with fire trucks and ambulances, and dotted with police vehicles. The entrance of the Astor Place station was marked off by the NYPD and caution tape, and yet no one seemed to know what was actually happening.
Yi Shan, an NYU Law student, was trying to get home but ended up waiting outside the station for half an hour, in hopes of hearing what was up. Officers on the scene gave unsatisfactory responses of, “I don’t know,” or, “It’s a police investigation. That’s it.”
At 2:45pm, the MTA tweeted the following.
#ServiceAlert: n/b 4, 5, 6 trains delays and detours. due to unauthorized person on the tracks at Astor Pl. See https://t.co/vhZQ2kZ2vb
— NYCT Subway (@NYCTSubway) September 20, 2016
Eventually, firefighters emerged from the Astor Place exit, empty handed, and soon enough, the corner was emergency-vehicle free.
An MTA spokesperson explained that “there was an initial report that a person was struck by a north bound 6 train at that location. Upon investigation, a body was not found.”
FDNY confirmed that there was no person found on the tracks, and the investigation has been concluded.
And so, Astor Place is now back to its normal never-ending confusion induced by construction.