New Yorkers rocked by Hollywood movie-style car explosion as Manhattan street is engulfed by inferno and black smoke

By LAUREN ACTON-TAYLOR, US NEWS REPORTER Published: 17:55, 20 May 2026 | Updated: 17:55, 20 May 2026 A New York City car fire rocked Manhattan as flames and smoke engulfed the streets, and onlookers ran from the dramatic explosion. In Lower Manhattan, locals and tourists were left sprinting from a car explosion on Tuesday evening at around 5.42pm near Wall Street's iconic Charging Bull.  The fire broke out near Broadway and Stone Street in front of the MTA Headquarters.  Video from onlookers showed a dramatic display of smoke and fire whipping in the sunny streets on one of the city's hottest days so far this year.  Footage showed what appeared to be an MTA-affiliated vehicle that had been parked on the side of the street quickly burst into flames.  Firefighters with the New York City Fire Department arrived on the scene and managed to quell the raging fire by 7pm, FDNY told the Daily Mail.  The cause of the fire remains under investigation and no injuries were reported. A photo shared online showed the charred remains of the vehicle outside of a Starbucks.  Footage showed what appeared to be an MTA-affiliated vehicle that had been parked on the side of the street quickly burst into flames in Lower Manhattan, New York City Video from onlookers showed a dramatic display of smoke and fire whipping in the sunny streets on one of the city's hottest days so far this year Firefighters with the New York City Fire Department arrived on the scene and managed to quell the raging fire by 7pm The fire broke out near Broadway and Stone Street in front of the MTA Headquarters MTA confirmed to the Daily Mail that the vehicle was one of their own and no employees were injured from the incident.  A user on Instagram said he saw the flames begin to form on his commute, and wrote: 'I walked by when it had just begun smoldering. Let’s just say I didn’t stick around to watch.  'Rather, I picked up my pace to the ferry. It was absolutely an MTA vehicle. Occurred across from the 4/5 station entrance at about 5:40pm.' No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.