I guess 8th Ave northbound from Penn Station would be doable in the AM.
Yes, the linked article says it occurred at 6:15 am.
"Police are scouring the area for the shooter, who fled the scene in a vehicle after firing off rounds at point-blank range about 6:15 a.m."
http://www.wnd.com/2015/11/one-dead-2-hurt-in-manhattan-street-shooting/print/
I worked in midtown Manhattan for years. There are times when Manhattan traffic is predictably bad. Every other time, traffic could be literally anything from empty to dead stopped. 4AM could see gridlock, 10AM could see no one.
That’s Manhattan (All of NYC, really) traffic. It’s never guaranteed to be clear. It can be any level, any time and for no reason at all, except when there IS a reason and then it’s just guaranteed bad.