Car bursts into flames near Wall Street, no injuries reported

A car burned in the middle of Lower Manhattan on Tuesday evening, sending thick black smoke into the air near Broadway and Stone Street, just steps from the Charging Bull statue and directly outside the Metropolitan Transportation Authority headquarters at 2 Broadway.

Fire Department of New York crews were called to the scene around 5:42 p.m. to 5:45 p.m., after reports of a car fire in the Financial District. Video from the scene showed the vehicle parked at the roadside before flames quickly spread through it as onlookers waited for firefighters. Some video accounts showed the car erupting into a fireball.

The blaze unfolded in one of the city’s most heavily trafficked corridors, near Wall Street and a major transit hub, drawing police and firefighters to a spot that is usually packed with office workers, tourists and evening commuters. Local video coverage described the vehicle as appearing to be MTA-affiliated, though authorities have not said what caused the fire or whether the car’s condition, power source or any modification played a role.

Firefighters brought the blaze under control shortly before 7 p.m. No injuries were reported. By then, the fire had already become a striking scene in Lower Manhattan, with smoke rising above a block that sits beside one of New York’s most recognizable landmarks.

Authorities said the cause remains under investigation. For residents, commuters and workers around Wall Street, the fast-moving fire was a reminder of how quickly a vehicle problem can turn into a public-safety event in a dense urban core, even when the outcome is limited to property damage and a short-lived disruption.