Bomb scare briefly closes Union Square

NEW YORK (NY Times) - The police cleared a portion of the Union Square area late Thursday after a Consolidated Edison employee reported seeing two gasoline canisters in the back of an Oldsmobile Cutlass that was parked in front of the utility company’s headquarters, law enforcement officials said.

But the car, and the gas cans, belonged to a man who mows lawns for a living, said Paul J. Browne, the Police Department's chief spokesman. The authorities lifted the evacuation at 12:45 a.m. Friday, about two and a half hours after the report was called in.

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