I sought refuge in the cleaners next door; the unflappable woman who works there was ironing behind the counter. "Bomb threat," she told me, offhandedly.
She was right -- I later learned a man had left a suitcase in a trashcan on my corner. It said "A BOMB" in big, taped-on letters. The NYPD closed four blocks within 30 minutes. When they determined the package was no threat, they quickly carted the suitcase away and reopened the streets. Within a few minutes, everything was back to normal. The story didn't even made the evening news, or the paper.
This morning, I saw yellow tape going up, along my street. A man was setting up red cones along the open parking spaces. Two towtrucks were busily hauling cars away.
"Excuse me," I said, to the man with the yellow tape. "Why are all these cars being towed?"
"Filming a movie."
Oh, yes, we've been here before (though this is shooting literally outside my front door.) I got some details on the movie -- called "The Brave One", starring Jodie Foster... There was one more thing I wanted to know:
"Why move all the cars? What's happening in the scene?"
"A traffic jam."
I love this town.
On a related note: Grand Rounds is up, with a movie theme.
Update: The Reeler's got the lowdown on this morning's towing, and some investigative reporting on how much NYPD is paying to accomodate the filmmakers and inconvenience the car-owners of my fair street.