New York ? Taking a page from the Rolling Stones, who once rode around the streets of New York on the back of a flatbed truck to promote an album, Irish rockers U2 turned heads and jammed traffic Monday afternoon in Manhattan as they did the same, with a helicopter in tow, before rolling into Brooklyn’s Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park for an impromptu free concert to promote its new album, “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb,” which arrives in stores today.

The 45-minute concert, held at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge, drew about 4,000 U2 faithful who bailed on work and school for a sneak preview of the album.

The music may have been fresh, but fans’ voices rang out in unison with the band’s — even on new songs like “Vertigo,” “Miracle Drug” and “All Because of You.”

“How do you guys know this s—?” the group’s lead singer Bono quipped before heading into the new track “Original of the Species,” a veiled reference to the massive unauthorized Internet leaking of the new CD two weeks before its release date.

The gig was taped by MTV. The network plans to air the footage Dec. 8.