New York City police say to avoid Times Square due to investigation

The New York City Police Department on Monday advised people to avoid Times Square in midtown Manhattan "due to an active police investigation."

"Avoid the area of West 43rd Street and 7th Avenue in Manhattan ... Expect emergency vehicles and delays in the surrounding area," the department said in a post on X.

An overhead image posted online shows a two-block section of Seventh Avenue between 42nd and 44th Street closed to traffic. Normally the area - one of the busiest in midtown Manhattan - is choked with vehicles and pedestrian traffic on a weekday morning.

Office workers in a building at the centre of closed section of the avenue were told to move away from windows. Many were gathered in the lobby of 3 Times Square, at the corner of 43rd Street.

The police department could not immediately be reached for comment.