NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York police reopened Park Avenue in midtown Manhattan on Thursday afternoon after investigating a suspicious vehicle and declaring it safe.

The bomb squad had been called to investigate a black Mercedes Benz and 10 blocks of Park Avenue were briefly closed to traffic and pedestrians, a police spokeswoman said.

"It's nothing," she said. It was unknown why the vehicle was considered suspicious.

Nearby Times Square was evacuated on May 1 after a Pakistani-American citizen, Faisal Shahzad, attempted to detonate a car bomb. Shahzad has pleaded guilty to 10 charges, including attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Eric Beech)