An NYPD marksman keeps the peace at Grand Central. (AFP/Getty Images)
La Guardia Airport was partially evacuated, a Long Island school emptied and cops went scrambling on more than three times the average number of suspicious-package calls amid high anxiety here yesterday.
Jittery New York City residents called in about 77 suspicious packages in the 24-hour period immediately after Monday’s terror attack in Boston, compared to about 21 such calls in an average day, officials said.
There were 32 reports of suspicious packages alone between 7 a.m. and noon yesterday.
“You know, people are just nervous,” one law-enforcement source told The Post at Avenue H and East 16th Street in Midwood, Brooklyn, where cops were called for a report of a suspicious package that turned out to be an empty school binder.
Another source added, “It’s not an overreaction, people are just concerned.”
A section of La Guardia was evacuated at about 10:30 a.m. after someone in the food court called 911, concerned over wires protruding from a fluorescent light fixture, authorities said.
Port Authority authorities allowed people back in the area about 45 minutes later.
Passengers also were yanked off a jet at the airport after two bottles in luggage got through security undetected, sources said. They were later cleared.
The Unqua Elementary School in Massapequa, LI, was evacuated for more than three hours after someone called in a bomb threat. No bomb was found.
In Manhattan, firefighters and cops evacuated an 11-story commercial building at 85 Tenth Ave. in Chelsea after a small white container similar to a pizza box was found on the side of the building.
“You can’t be too careful,” said a male resident who left the building along with dozens of other people for about 40 minutes.
“The last thing you want to do is question this stuff,” he said. “Just follow instructions and get out.”
The box turned out to be empty, witnesses said.
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said that despite the alarms, “there are no specific threats against New York City.
“But in the aftermath of the horrific day that Boston experienced, we prepared as if yesterday was a prelude to an attack here in New York.”
The NYPD has stepped up security at strategic places throughout the city, including Rockefeller Center, the Empire State Building, hotels and places of worship.
Police have also increased bag searches in the subway system.
“In this post-9/11 world, we have to be concerned,” Kelly said.
A law-enforcement source added that the NYPD is “tracking down a lot of [reports about suspicious packages and threats], but so far none have been credible.”
One of the threats was aimed at the Australian Consulate General, warning workers to not go to work tomorrow, sources said.
“In this environment, we just feel prudent to pass things on as they come to our attention,” said Darren Sharp, the acting Australian consulate general in New York.
Kelly said city officials are “reevaluating” two major racing events planned in New York this weekend: a 5K run to the Sept. 11, 2011, memorial and a four-mile race in Central Park.
Mayor Bloomberg said the New York Marathon is expected to go on as usual in November.
“As a country, we may not be able to thwart every attack — we saw that yesterday,” he said.
“But we must continue to do everything we possibly can to try.”
Added Kelly in terms of marathon security, “There’s only so much you can do.’’
Additional reporting by Rebecca Harshbarger and Yasmine Phillips,
with Post Wire Services