Multiple-car accident clogs Gowanus Expressway

A multiple-car accident on the Gowanus Expressway at Sixth Avenue created a massive headache for Brooklyn drivers Tuesday night, clogging the westbound lanes of the expressway and snarling traffic in both directions.

A New York Fire Department spokesman said eight people were taken to area hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries because of the chain-reaction wreck, which occurred around 8:20 p.m. The spokesman said he did not have a firm number on how many cars were involved. More than 10 of the cars were wrecked, but the spokesman could not confirm media reports that more than 30 cars were involved.

He said the accident -- which took place a few miles before the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, was not considered serious and that the wrecked cars had not been traveling at high rates of speed.

A New York Police Department spokesman said officials could not say exactly how many cars were involved either, and that the accident was not serious.

"It was a couple separate incidents that makes it look like a big pileup, but they're just clustered together," the spokesman said.