Please let this not have been terrorism. Probably it wasn't. My sister lives in Manhattan.

(New York-AP, September 21, 2004) — An underground fire sent five manhole covers flying into the air, spewed smoke into the streets and shattered windows near the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan during the Tuesday evening commuter rush, police and power company officials said.

...

The cause of the fire wasn't known.

The bus terminal is between 40th and 42nd streets and Eighth and Ninth avenues, in one of the city's busiest areas, usually teeming with commuters and tourists, even late at night. Nearby are several multiplex movie theaters, the Madame Tussaud's wax museum and B.B. King's blues club.