"Hey, y'all! Try some o' this chili! I think it's the best Cooter's ever made!"Authorities were investigating the source of a mysterious gas-like odor Monday that stretched across a large part of Manhattan, including Rockefeller Center. The Fire Department began getting calls about the odor around 9 a.m. Monday, said spokesman Tim Hinchey. Consolidated Edison was investigating, utility spokeswoman Joy Faber said.
Across the Hudson River, Jersey City, N.J., mayor's spokeswoman Maria Pignataro said officials there were told the odor was due to a gas leak in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood, just north of Greenwich Village. "The smell was very strong. It was very scary," said Yolanda Van Gemd, an administrator at ASA, a business school near the Empire State Building that was evacuated as a precaution.