Large Transport; Low Wing; 2 Turbojet Eng
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Workload; Time Pressure; Situational Awareness
Conflict NMAC
Flight Crew Took Evasive Action; Flight Crew Returned To Clearance; Flight Crew Became Reoriented
Procedure; Environment - Non Weather Related; Airspace Structure
At 5;000 FT; vectors for Runway 4R. ATC called single engine traffic 10 o'clock 500 FT high. We visually obtained traffic. TCAS indicated 400 FT above as the traffic passed overhead. We received a 'monitor vertical speed' indication (red bars above). First Officer descended 2-300 FT to increase separation. Reported descent to ATC. No further incident.
ATC alerted an air carrier about traffic during vectors for EWR Runway 4R. With the traffic in sight and TCAS alerting the crew descended; so the traffic flew 400 FT overhead.