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Park Avenue Reopened After Suspicious Car Scare

NEW YORK (CBS/AP) -- Officials said a Mercedes left parked along Park Avenue all day in midtown Manhattan had nothing suspicious inside it after the bomb squad was brought in to investigate it, CBS 2's Sean Hennessey reports.

Police and bomb squad units arrived on the scene at 51st Street and Park after witnesses say the car had been on the street since 6 a.m. Thursday and the trunk appeared to be weighted down. Authorities were unable to contact the owner and decided to check out the vehicle as a precaution.

Pedestrian and street traffic was blocked off about 10 blocks around the car, before being reopened shortly after 5 p.m.

Police say people who reported hearing an explosion were actually hearing the sounds of officers using tools to investigate the car.

The vehicle was parked near 51st Street and Park Avenue in midtown Manhattan, not far from St. Patrick's Cathedral and the Waldorf Astoria hotel.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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