Port Authority: Powder Briefly Shuts Entrance to NYC Transit Hub

An unknown white powder shut down one entrance to New York’s Port Authority Bus Terminal briefly Wednesday morning.

The Eighth Avenue entrance was shut down around 10 a.m. as police examined the powder, but was reopened at 10:23 a.m. when the powder was found to be a nontoxic cleaning agent, Bloomberg reported.

Police and the National Guard taped off the entrance and diverted hundreds of passengers to the Ninth Avenue entrance. Bus traffic was not directly affected by the shutdown, but the Manhattan Transit Authority reported delays in the area because of the police activity, NBC4 reported.

Subway access to the mezzanine level also was blocked temporarily, but access was available from outside the bus terminal, ABC7 reported.

Crowds were orderly during the shutdown and responding personnel were calm, NBC4 reported. Some law enforcement shouted at pedestrians to leave the area before it was taped off, Bloomberg reported.

Twitter users joked about the shutdown after it was over.

The white powder that caused police to close the Port Authority terminal turned out to be a cleaning product. I've never once seen evidence of a cleaning product being used there so I can see why they freaked out.

— Frank Conniff (@FrankConniff) April 4, 2018

NY’s Port Authority Bus Terminal was shut down after discovery of a mysterious white powder. The powder was later identified as soap, which hadn’t been seen in Port Authority in over 40 years.

— Terwilliger (@MagicMissiles) April 4, 2018

“White Powder” briefly shut down Port Authority until they realized it was a harmless “cleaning agent”

The bigger scandal is that someone actually found something clean there.

(Thank you. I’ll be here all week)

— Jessica Grace (@RedHeadedWriter) April 4, 2018

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