If everyone could just look at the "1st" photo in post #2124 . Notice that traffic on the street? That section of Midtown, towards the tunnel, has what is known as epic gridlock. A couple of weeks ago back in May, I was literally stuck in 30 minutes of gridlock. I only moved 2 blocks within that time frame. I later found out it was because 2 buses crashed near the Lincoln tunnel. But word to the wise, careful, because all it takes is one little incident and the area is a parking lot.
In general, because of the construction, there have been a lot of moments of gridlock. Sometimes it can also result from a truck or bus getting stuck and people do not yield or give chances, especially those terrible taxi drivers.