NY gas smell shuts trains, forces evacuations

NEW YORK, Jan 8 (Reuters) The smell of gas throughout much of Manhattan forced the evacuation of buildings and the suspension of a commuter train service today, authorities and media reported.

There were no immediate reports of injuries, nor of the source of the smell, but the wide range of the odor provoked jitters in a city that is constantly reminded of the September 11 attacks.

''There have been no abnormal changes in gas flow in our gas transmission lines,'' a spokesman for power utility Con Edison said.

He declined to answer questions.

Police and fire sirens sounded throughout much of the city as people reported the smell from the southern tip of Manhattan to midtown.

The city was blanketed with low clouds and there was light rain and little wind.

''We are getting several calls of a foul odor. Our units are responding. It's in various parts of the city,'' a police spokesman said.

Part of the New York-New Jersey PATH commuter train system, which carries 225,000 passengers a day, was shut as a result.

The odor is not harmful, Fox News quoted the New York City police as saying.

A spokeswoman for the Jersey City mayor's office told CNN that the state's Office of Emergency Management learned the smell originated from around fourth Street and Bleecker Street in Manhattan. Jersey City is directly across the Hudson River from New York.

''At the behest of the Fire Department we closed the PATH along 6th Avenue and we're on standby. The service has been suspended between Hoboken and 33rd (Street) and Journal Square and 33rd pending an investigation by Con Ed and the fire department,'' PATH spokesman Pasquale Difulco said.

New York's CBS affiliate reported several Manhattan office buildings and schools were evacuated.

A US Coast Guard spokesman said vessel traffic in New York Harbor was unaffected.

REUTERS BDP KN2120