

All Security News
Fundraising For Memorial Has Yet to Begin - Sep 11, 2004
Eight months after the World Trade Center memorial design was unveiled, Gov. Pataki and Mayor Bloomberg have yet to find a prominent person willing to lead the foundation that's raising the money to build it.
(New York Daily News)
Bush Now Supports Larger Role for New Intelligence Post - Sep 9, 2004
President Bush said on Wednesday that he wanted to give a new national intelligence director "full budgetary authority,'' a sharp shift from an earlier position and an acquiescence to a major recommendation of the Sept. 11 commission.
(New York Times )
New York Officials Reject New Homeland Security Funding Plan - Sep 8, 2004
A Republican plan to give New York more anti-terror funding in time to mark Saturday's 9/11 anniversary hit a wall yesterday after Mayor Bloomberg and other lawmakers said the proposal is useless.
(New York Post )
Trade Center Veterans Plan Cooperative Restaurant - Sep 7, 2004
Memory can make a bitter dish, but a group of 50 waiters, cooks and busboys who once worked at the Windows on the World restaurant are intent on honoring 73 colleagues who died when the twin towers collapsed by opening what may be New York's first cooperatively owned restaurant.
(New York Times )
Despite Terror Concerns, New York Builds Glass Skyscrapers - Sep 6, 2004
Defying concerns after the attack on New York three years ago that post-9/11 construction would be dominated by brute concrete bunkers, the designers of significant new public and private buildings in the city are turning again and again to glass facades.
(New York Times )
Bloomberg, Thanking Bush for Help After 9/11, Gets Mixed Reception at Convention - Aug 31, 2004
Former Democrat Mayor Bloomberg yesterday welcomed Republicans to their convention, removing any doubt about where his political allegiances lie. He threw his support behind President Bush and thanked the GOP for aiding New York in the wake of 9/11.
(New York Post )
City Security is Ready for Convention, Says Homeland Security Chief - Aug 26, 2004
"The city is secure." That was the message from Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge during a Republican National Convention security briefing at NYPD Headquarters yesterday.
(New York Post )
9/11 Commission Publishes Two Extra Reports - Aug 24, 2004
The 9/11 Commission has released two additional reports, one on terrorism financing and the other on customs failures.
(NY1)
Citigroup Atrium Reopens After Terror Warning - Aug 21, 2004
Until Thursday, Citigroup Center at Lexington Avenue and 53rd Street had been off-limits to visitors and shoppers following the Aug. 1 warning that the building was a terrorist target. It was only Friday that nontenants were finally allowed to enter the building and visit some 20 shops on its ground and underground levels.
(Newsday)
9/11 Families Support Immigrant Driver's License Restrictions - Aug 20, 2004
Families of Sept. 11th victims backed yesterday a controversial state plan to revoke driver's licenses from hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants who got them using fake Social Security numbers.
(New York Daily News)
Flag Found in Ground Zero Rubble Flies Over Reopened Post Office - Aug 20, 2004
An American flag that flew over the post office across from the World Trade Center was returned to Ground Zero yesterday during a rededication ceremony for the newly restored postal facility. The flag, found in the rubble of the WTC after 9/11, will be mounted in the lobby of the post office at 90 Church St. as a memorial.
(New York Post )
Many Companies Haven't Increased Security Since 9/11 - Aug 16, 2004
Thomas E. Cavanagh set out last spring to answer a basic question: were executives of midsize companies - including potentially vulnerable industries like transportation, financial services, utilities and telecommunications - spending more on security than they did before 9/11? The results were not without surprises: almost half the roughly 100 companies on which he gained information had not increased annual spending on security at all after Sept. 11.
(New York Times)
Tourist or Terrorist? - Aug 12, 2004
The family pictures depict what relatives say is the real Kamran Akhtar: a loving family man, not a video-shooting potential terrorist.
(New York Daily News)
Responding to Warning, Feds Take Over Helicopter Security - Aug 10, 2004
Federal security officers will take over the screening of all passengers on helicopter tours in New York City, after officials found that suspected Qaeda operatives in Pakistan had photographs, a brochure and other information about the tours.
(New York Times)
Terror Threat "Constant" Says Police Commissioner - Aug 9, 2004
The terror threat to the city is "fairly constant" - but New Yorkers should not shrug off heightened alerts, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.
(New York Daily News)
Al Qaeda Files Show City's Vulnerabilities - Aug 9, 2004
Computers and disks seized from an Al Qaeda operative contain chilling details of how vulnerable some landmarks are and how terrorists could use limo bombs, hijacked helicopters and other diabolical schemes to destroy them.
(New York Daily News)
City Faces Biggest Security Challenge Yet at End of August - Aug 8, 2004
The NYPD's counterterrorism playbook will face its biggest, and most expensive, test in only three weeks. Hosting the Republican National Convention would be taxing enough. But cops also will be playing defense for the U.S. Open, the Yankees and Mets when the GOP comes to town.
(New York Daily News)
New York's Share of Security Funds Dropped This Year - Aug 7, 2004
Despite ominous new threats of attacks, New York state's share of federal anti-terror money actually went down this year, according to a startling new congressional report released yesterday.
(New York Post)
Bloomberg Knew About Terror Warning in Advance - Aug 7, 2004
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said yesterday that he knew of the terror alerts concerning financial institutions in Washington and the New York region two days before the Bush administration publicly released the information. But Mr. Bloomberg, speaking on his weekly radio program, added that he decided not to alert city residents immediately because he wanted to give city officials time to make preparations and to respond to public concerns that would be raised. The alert was publicly issued on Sunday.
(New York Times)
Bin Laden May Have Sent Man to Case NY Buildings - Aug 7, 2004
A terror suspect jailed in London may have been sent by Osama Bin Laden to personally case New York City buildings that are now the subject of heightened orange alert security measures.
(New York Daily News)
Mayor: Get Used to Tight Security - Aug 7, 2004
As police continued their tight grip on the city, Mayor Michael Bloomberg told New Yorkers on Friday to get used to the extra security because it's going to be around for some time.
(Newsday)
Downtowners React to Terror Warning - Aug 7, 2004
It wasn’t quite business as usual on Monday, as Downtowners went about their routines amid heightened security in response to terror threats against the Citigroup buildings and the New York Stock Exchange. But many residents and workers greeted the alert with resolve, saying it would not cause them to change their behavior.
(Downtown Express)
WTC Cultural Institutions Tell Residents What to Expect - Aug 7, 2004
Representatives from the four cultural institutions selected for the arts and museum complex at the redeveloped World Trade Center site told residents what kinds of amenities they could expect when the complex opens in five years.
(Downtown Express)
Traffic from Terror Alerts Costing City - Aug 6, 2004
Mayor Michael Bloomberg expressed concern yesterday that grinding traffic from terror-related restrictions on bridges and tunnels might have affected the city's finances.
(Newsday)
Police Make $1.5 Million in Overtime This Week, Due to Security Measures - Aug 5, 2004
Safety measures prompted by this week's increased security alert will drive the Police Department's anti-terrorism-related overtime to about $1.5 million for the week, a 50 percent increase over the norm, officials said yesterday.
(Newsday)
Restrictions on Trucks Entering Manhattan Eased - Aug 5, 2004
Three days after sharply increasing security in response to a federal alert about possible terrorist plots, the New York City Police Department last night partly lifted its ban on trucks and vans entering Manhattan.
(New York Times)
Tourists Not Letting Terrorists Win - Aug 5, 2004
The tourists aren't letting the terrorists win. New York City welcomed a record 37.8 million visitors in 2003, bringing more than an estimated $16 billion into the local economy, Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday.
(New York Daily News)
Statue of Liberty Reopens Under Heavy Security - Aug 4, 2004
Lady Liberty is back as a beacon for huddled masses of tourists after being closed for nearly three years following the 9/11 terror attacks.
(New York Daily News)
After Terror Alert, How Long to Keep Extra Security in Place? - Aug 4, 2004
Just two days after the new terror alerts, questions - and even resentment - arose from inside the cross hairs, and police officials coordinating stepped-up security measures were looking ahead to when it would be possible to step back down.
(New York Times)
Straining With Security Costs, City Officials Remind Washington of Funding Needs - Aug 4, 2004
The city's stepped-up security, which includes posting cops outside major financial firms and checking trucks for possible explosives, is costing New York an estimated $5 million a week, NYPD sources said. But don't expect the feds to pick up much of the tab, which comes amid new evidence Al Qaeda plotted to blow up the New York Stock Exchange and the Citigroup building.
(New York Daily News)
Bloomberg Takes Current Threat More Seriously Than Previous Ones - Aug 4, 2004
Since the day Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg took office, his responses to numerous federal warnings about possible terrorist attacks have been almost identical. Without exactly being dismissive, he has told New Yorkers to leave security concerns “to the professionals,” and then promptly cantered around the city, spreading the word that the city is safe and open for business.
This week, however, while continuing his breakneck tours of the five boroughs, Mr. Bloomberg has taken a slightly different tack, viewing the latest alert issued by the Department of Homeland Security in a very sober light. During a television interview yesterday,
(New York Times)
FBI Fears Qaeda Operatives Are in New York - Aug 4, 2004
The FBI is monitoring suspected Al Qaeda operatives and members of two allied terror groups in the New York City area, the FBI's New York director said yesterday.
(New York Daily News)
Security Slows Brooklyn Traffic - Aug 4, 2004
Anti-terror roadblocks turned Brooklyn into a parking lot yesterday morning, pushing drivers to the breaking point and forcing police to retool their traffic strategy for today.
(New York Daily News)
Another Day, Another Security Alert - Aug 4, 2004
New Yorkers adjusted their schedules and continued to cope on the second business day of terrorist-inspired threats that officials described as real, albeit based partially on old information.
(Newsday)
Working to Calm New Yorkers During Terror Alert - Aug 4, 2004
What’s happening behind closed doors at the Pentagon, the C.I.A. and the White House is above our security clearance. And the complex engineering and construction work required to secure buildings like the Citigroup tower against terrorist attack is beyond our layman’s understanding. But Laura Bush sitting in the atrium of the Citigroup Center, joined by Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Pataki—especially in the weeks leading up to the Republican National Convention—as armed gunmen trawl Manhattan’s streets, is something that we all can understand.
(New York Observer)
Attack is Planned for Early September, Says Qaeda Operative - Aug 3, 2004
More financial institutions than previously disclosed may be at risk of attack, and an al-Qaida operative has told British intelligence that the group's target date is early September, intelligence sources said yesterday.
(Newsday)
Intelligence Leading to Terror Warning Was Years Old - Aug 3, 2004
Much of the information that led the authorities to raise the terror alert at several large financial institutions in the New York City and Washington areas was three or four years old, intelligence and law enforcement officials said on Monday. They reported that they had not yet found concrete evidence that a terrorist plot or preparatory surveillance operations were still under way. But the officials continued to regard the information as significant and troubling because the reconnaissance already conducted has provided Al Qaeda with the knowledge necessary to carry out attacks against the sites in Manhattan, Washington and Newark
(New York Times)
For New York, Terror Alert Has Economic Consequences - Aug 3, 2004
Prompted by warnings from Washington that Al Qaeda might try to strike New York's financial heart again, more-visible security measures returned to New York yesterday as the city responded to apparent threats against specific buildings for the first time. The stepped-up measures led to worries that the security delays and psychological effects of the terrorism threat will act as a brake on a city economy that is just beginning to rev up after a prolonged slump.
(New York Times)
New Yorkers Carry On Despite Terror Alert - Aug 3, 2004
New Yorkers forged on in the face of the latest Al Qaeda terror threat yesterday as the First Lady and her daughters made a morale-boosting mission to the jittery city.
(New York Daily News)
Metropolitan Transportation Authority Earmarks $495 Million for Security - Aug 3, 2004
The MTA has earmarked $495 million toward "enhancing security readiness" in an effort to protect the region's vast rail network, officials said yesterday.
(New York Post)
Bloomberg Takes His Own Advice on Terror Alert - Aug 3, 2004
Mayor Bloomberg took his own advice yesterday and went about his day as usual - riding the subways, breaking ground on a new office tower, even hosting a relaxed barbecue at Gracie Mansion for city workers.
(New York Daily News)
Security Measures Not So Hard on Traffic, After All - Aug 3, 2004
Light traffic met heavy security yesterday on New York streets, where new checkpoints and road closings caused only isolated backups, officials said.
(New York Daily News)
Terror Alert Means Busy Day for Police - Aug 3, 2004
A day after a chilling federal warning of a possible terror strike, reports of unattended bags had edgy cops racing from call to call throughout the city. Skittish residents watched with curiosity and fear.
(New York Daily News)
On Wall Street, Traders Ignore Terror Alert - Aug 3, 2004
Traders at the New York Stock Exchange yesterday defied the terror warnings and went about their business — the business of making money.
(New York Post)
First Lady, Daughters Visit Citibank Building - Aug 3, 2004
First Lady Laura Bush and her twin daughters paid a surprise visit to the Citigroup Center yesterday, joining Mayor Bloomberg and Gov. Pataki to cheer on employees who ignored the terror threat and reported for work.
(New York Post)
Warnings Won't Affect Convention - Aug 3, 2004
New warnings about possible terrorist attacks on Manhattan financial institutions won't affect security for the upcoming Republican National Convention, authorities and security experts said Monday.
(Newsday)
Bloomberg on Warnings: Go About Your Business - Aug 2, 2004
Go about your business. That was the message from Mayor Bloomberg yesterday.
(New York Post)
Security Increased in New York, New Jersey, Washington - Aug 2, 2004
New York City, Washington, the State of New Jersey and major financial institutions in Manhattan and northern New Jersey stepped up security yesterday to the highest levels since the terrorist attacks of three years ago after the Bush administration warned of alarming new intelligence reports targeting buildings and organizations at the heart of capitalism in America.
(New York Times)
Jitters Spread With News of Terror Warning - Aug 2, 2004
Security guards gathered around a radio in the lobby of the Citicorp Center yesterday as Homeland Security czar Tom Ridge named the building as a potential terror target. Cops welded shut manhole covers and searched trucks near the Wall St. home of the New York Stock Exchange. Across the river in Newark, police in flak jackets erected concrete barriers in front of the Prudential Plaza, yet another possible target.
(New York Daily News)
Terror Warnings Will Bring Traffic Troubles - Aug 2, 2004
Terror fears are expected to bring traffic headaches throughout the city this morning, as police impose restrictions on bridges and tunnels, as well as streets around potential targets.
(New York Daily News)
Statue of Liberty Under Guard at Time of Planned Reopening - Aug 2, 2004
Although officials cited only financial institutions in their latest terrorist warning, authorities will pay close attention to the Statue of Liberty, which opens to the public tomorrow for the first time since 9/11.
(New York Post)
President Bush Preparing to Address 9/11 Commission's Recommendations - Aug 2, 2004
President Bush is prepared to announce within days a package of steps to carry out recommendations of the Sept. 11 commission, possibly including the creation of a new post of national intelligence director, but he is wary of following the panel's recommendation that the official work within the White House, senior administration officials said Friday.
(New York Times)
Feds Warn of Possible Attack on NYC "Icons" - Aug 1, 2004
(Associated Press)
NYPD Heightens Security in Response to Threats - Aug 1, 2004
The New York Police Department, responding to new information that terrorists may be planning to attack corporations or large public institutions in the city, advised building managers and corporate security personnel on Saturday night to step up their procedures to guard against vehicles rigged with explosives and against chemical agents placed in ventilation systems.
(New York Times )
9/11 Commission Chair: Attacks Could Have Been Prevented - Jul 27, 2004
The chairman of the 9/11 commission, Thomas Kean, said Sunday that he believes the attacks could have prevented.
(NY1)
Cantor Fitzgerald Finds New Home in Midtown - Jul 27, 2004
Nearly three years after 658 Cantor Fitgerald employees were killed in the attack on the World Trade Center, the stock and bond trading company has found a new home five miles from ground zero, on the East Side of Manhattan. Cantor signed a lease last week to move into space now occupied by Bloomberg L.P., the business information company founded by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, at Park Avenue and 59th Street, where Cantor plans to erect a monument to the co-workers who died in the Sept. 11 attack.
(New York Times)
Congress Will Hold Hearings to Discuss 9/11 Commission's Proposed Reforms - Jul 25, 2004
Senate and House committees will hold an unusual round of August hearings on intelligence reform after leaders of the Sept. 11 commission warned that America remained vulnerable to another deadly terror strike.
(Associated Press)
Bloomberg Says 9/11 Commission Wrong About City's Emergency Response - Jul 24, 2004
Mayor Bloomberg vehemently disagreed with the 9/11 commission's assessment that his administration has failed to establish clear lines of command among city agencies responding to a future terrorist attack.
(New York Daily News)
Senator Clinton Criticizes Bush on Security Funding - Jul 24, 2004
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday that President Bush has been an ineffective leader who "dithered" in supplying anti-terrorism money to the most threatened states.
(Associated Press)
9/11 Commission Final Report Calls for Intelligence Overhaul - Jul 23, 2004
The bipartisan commission that investigated the Sept. 11 attacks concluded in its unanimous final report on Thursday that the attacks "were a shock but they should not have come as a surprise." It warned that without a historic restructuring of the nation's intelligence agencies and a new emphasis on diplomacy, the United States would leave itself open to an even more catastrophic attack.
(New York Times)
New York City Not Getting Needed Security Cash, Says 9/11 Commission - Jul 23, 2004
New York City's anti-terror resources are being grossly underfunded by the White House and Congress, which treat the critical money as "pork-barrel spending," the new 9/11 report charges.
(New York Post )
9/11 Families Ambivalent About Commission Report - Jul 23, 2004
As the nation digested a 567-page report detailing the failures of intelligence agencies, politicians and first responders before and on Sept. 11, 2001, many of those most directly affected by the terror attacks that killed nearly 3,000 found yesterday that they weren't particularly interested in its conclusions.
(Newsday)
Study Determines Location of Deaths on 9/11 - Jul 22, 2004
Now, nearly three years after the attack, federal investigators with the National Institute of Standards and Technology have come up with the most comprehensive, but still not final, tally of just who died where on Sept. 11, 2001.
(New York Times)
Judge Tells WTC Developer, Architect, to Settle Dispute Through Mediation - Jul 22, 2004
A judge yesterday ordered World Trade Center leaseholder Larry Silverstein and disgruntled architect Daniel Libeskind to submit their $800,000 fee dispute to mediation.
(New York Daily News)
Video Show Hijackers in Airport on September 11 - Jul 22, 2004
Surveillance video from Washington Dulles International Airport the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, shows four of the five hijackers being pulled aside to undergo additional scrutiny after setting off metal detectors but then permitted to board the fateful flight that crashed into the Pentagon.
(Associated Press)
Victims' Families Briefed on 9/11 Commission Report - Jul 22, 2004
Victims’ family members, Bush administration officials and lawmakers are being briefed on the 9/11 commission’s final report Wednesday, a day before the findings will be made public.
(NY1)
Immigrants Say Post-9/11 Crackdown Persists - Jul 20, 2004
Nearly three years after 9/11, New York immigrants, their determined advocates and Catholic clergy told an emotional forum Monday that the effects of heightened enforcement of immigration laws are felt every day.
(Newsday)
9/11 Commission Report to Criticize NYC Response - Jul 20, 2004
Confusion between city police officers and firefighters during the World Trade Center attack will reportedly be a major topic in the scathing final report the federal 9/11 commission is expected to release on Thursday.
(NY1)
New York Slow to Fix 9/11 Flaws, Says Commission - Jul 19, 2004
New York still has not fixed some of the crucial problems faced by city cops and firefighters on 9/11, the commission probing the 2001 terrorist attacks will say this week.
(New York Daily News)
City Opens Lab to Combat Bioterrorism - Jul 14, 2004
Nearly three years after anthrax attacks in New York City brought home the danger that bioterrorism poses to the world, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg yesterday announced the opening of a $16 million high-security laboratory to help detect and deal with future threats.
(New York Times)
Workers Prepare for Demolition of Last Structural Obstacle to Freedom Tower - Jul 12, 2004
Deep within the smoke-blackened ruins of an underground parking garage, 30 workers are installing tendonlike bundles of steel cable, called tiebacks, to anchor the concrete perimeter foundation wall to bedrock. This will permit the demolition in coming months of the last major structural vestige of the old World Trade Center.
(New York Times)
Wall Street May Be Next Terror Target - Jul 11, 2004
U.S. intelligence agencies are growing increasingly concerned that al Qaeda's next target in the United States could be the heart of America's economy — Wall Street.
(New York Post)
Convention Planners Fear Train Bombing - Jul 11, 2004
Security planners for the upcoming political conventions are highly concerned about a train bombing and are taking unprecedented steps to safeguard subway and commuter lines in host cities New York and Boston.
(Newsday)
Despite Alert, Police Have Received No New Intelligence on Attack in City - Jul 9, 2004
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly was unfazed by Homeland Security Chief Tom Ridge's announcement yesterday that al-Qaida might attack the Republican National Convention at Madison Square Garden, saying the city has received no new intelligence and won't change its alert status.
(Newsday)
Grants Coming for Ground Zero Cultural Institutions - Jul 8, 2004
The agency leading the Ground Zero rebuilding is expected today to approve $1.5 million in grants for the creation of a cultural center at the site, sources said.
(Newsday)
On Cornerstone, Inscription Speaks with Local Accent - Jul 8, 2004
It could have been imperial Trajan. Or elegant Bodoni. Or generic Helvetica. But the search for the ideal typeface to be inscribed on the Freedom Tower cornerstone at the World Trade Center site ended simply, in Gotham.
(New York Times)
Head of Victims Compensation Fund Honored - Jul 5, 2004
A legal organization has awarded a lifetime achievement award to the head of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. Special Master Kenneth Feinberg received the award from the Association of Trial Lawyers of America at the group's annual convention in Boston.
(NY1)
City Looks to Blast-Proof Subways - Jul 4, 2004
The MTA is looking into a plan to secure subway tunnels with a military-style, lightweight material that would contain the force of a bomb blast, The Post has learned.
(New York Post)
City Prepares Cops for Chemical Attack - Jul 4, 2004
Behind the gates of a former Brooklyn grade school, the NYPD is mustering an army of 10,000 cops that will be ready to march into the chaos of a chemical, biological or nuclear terror strike - just in time for the upcoming Republican National Convention.
(New York Post)
Housing Complex Residents Split on Rebuilding Project - Jul 3, 2004
With the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation considering the Chatham Green Houses complex as a potential site for an underground parking garage, the building’s shareholders and board members are already split as to whether the project would be a blessing or a boondoggle.
(Downtown Express)
Lawyers of Post-9/11 Detainees Sue Prison For Videotaping Meetings With Clients - Jul 2, 2004
When lawyers from the Legal Aid Society made their way into the federal detention center in Brooklyn in the fall of 2001 to meet with detainees, they said, they were alarmed to see video cameras on the walls. Concerned about the confidentiality of their conversations with their shackled clients - immigrant detainees who were rounded up after the Sept. 11 attacks - the lawyers asked whether they were being taped. Prison officials assured them, they say, that the cameras were turned off.
(New York Times)
Pedestal of Statue of Liberty to Open August 3rd - Jul 1, 2004
Visitors will be able to again enter the Statue of Liberty on Aug. 3, after being closed for nearly three years of safety and security improvements, the National Parks Service said yesterday.
(New York Times)
Bush Will Not Visit Ground Zero - Jun 30, 2004
President Bush will make no visits to Ground Zero during this summer's Republican National Convention, his campaign manager said yesterday. But he was quick to note that the president's not making the trip does not indicate any lack of respect.
(New York Post)
Bloomberg Asks Cheney for More Security Cash - Jun 30, 2004
Mayor Michael Bloomberg spent a half hour at the St. Regis Hotel yesterday dunning Vice President Dick Cheney for more homeland security cash before switching the subject to their childhood baseball card collections.
(Newsday)
Train Stations Installing Bomb-Proof Garbage Cans - Jun 28, 2004
A growing number of bomb-proof garbage bins have sprouted at Grand Central Terminal and Penn Station in an effort to thwart any plans by terrorists to put explosive devices inside them, officials said.
(New York Post)
Assemblyman Says Governor Reroutes NYC Security Funds to Suburbs - Jun 27, 2004
A top Democrat is criticizing Gov. Pataki for redirecting millions of dollars in anti-terrorism aid from New York City and other high-need urban areas to the suburbs. Assemblyman Scott Stringer (D-Manhattan) said Pataki last year redirected as much as $19 million of the $125 million earmarked for New York City, with $12.5 million going to the MTA, and $2 million each going to the suburbs of Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester counties.
(New York Post)
New Security Push on Subways Asks Straphangers to Contribute - Jun 24, 2004
The MTA is ratcheting up its efforts to secure subways and commuter trains from terror attacks by expanding an awareness campaign encouraging riders to notify cops if they see a suspicious package or unattended bag, officials said yesterday.
(New York Post )
In Continuation of Feud Over Security Funds, Congressman Rips Bloomberg - Jun 23, 2004
The Ohio congressman dissed by Mayor Bloomberg for sinking a homeland security bill lashed back yesterday. "It's unfortunate that instead of really working with the Congress on the war against terrorism, the mayor instead chooses time and again to play these silly press games," said Rep. Bob Ney's spokesman Brian Walsh.
(New York Daily News)
Bloomberg Explains His Lunch Offense on Security Funds - Jun 23, 2004
Diss my city and there will be political ramifications, a tough-talking Mayor Michael Bloomberg said yesterday. The mayor was explaining why on Monday, he barred Ohio Rep. Bob Ney from a Republican congressional campaign committee get-together that had been scheduled at his Upper East Side townhouse.
(Newsday)
Bloomberg Cancels Republican Fundraiser in Feud over Security Funds - Jun 22, 2004
A fund-raiser in Mayor Bloomberg's home for the National Republican Congressional Committee was abruptly dropped yesterday in a growing feud over the allocation of federal funds to fight terrorism.
(New York Post )
Trauma Cases Related to 9/11 Continue to Emerge - Jun 21, 2004
An average of 179 firefighters a month - new cases all - seek help from the FDNY's counseling services unit to deal with Sept. 11-related trauma, according to the unit's director, Malachy Corrigan.
(New York Daily News)
Convention Gives City a Chance to Showcase Post 9/11 Security - Jun 20, 2004
This summer's Grand Old Party - the Republican National Convention - is New York's chance to showcase its post-9/11 appeal, but the challenge will be selling that message through the noise about security and protesters.
(New York Daily News)
House Votes Down New York's Security Funding Initiative - Jun 19, 2004
Mayor Bloomberg blasted an early morning House vote yesterday that rejected an effort by New York-area lawmakers to funnel homeland security dollars to high-risk cities.
(New York Daily News)
NYC Drops out of National Association of Counties Over Homeland Security Dispute - Jun 19, 2004
New York City has dropped out of a national group of local governments that Mayor Michael Bloomberg accused of being a "pork barrel" lobbyist for rural areas on the issue of homeland security funding.
(Newsday )
In Wrenching Detail, Commission Recounts Morning of 9/11 - Jun 18, 2004
The nation has relived that morning countless times since Sept. 11, 2001, but never with the harrowing detail and minute-by-minute drama of the staff report released Thursday by the independent commission investigating the attacks.
The 29-page report recounts a frenetic 149 minutes unlike anything ever faced by the nation's aviation and military defenses. And it details moments both of unflinching calm, like actions by the air traffic controllers who managed to orchestrate the landings of all 4,500 flights aloft, and of maddening miscommunications, mangled coordination and broken chains of command.
(New York Times)
Congressman Calls for Full Reopening of Statue of Liberty - Jun 18, 2004
The Statue of Liberty should be reopened to her crown - not just to her feet - by July 31, Rep. Anthony Weiner said yesterday.
(New York Daily News)
9/11 Commission Will Scrutinize Air Defense on Last Day of Hearings - Jun 17, 2004
The 9/11 commission is focusing on the nation’s air defenses on its final day of hearings Thursday, asking whether one or more of the hijacked airliners could have been intercepted if military jets had been scrambled faster.
(NY1)
Victims Compensation Fund Ends Tasks, But Controversies Remain - Jun 17, 2004
The federal Sept. 11 Victim Compensation Fund may be closing its doors, but a number of controversies remain. Despite the fund's efforts to dissuade people from suing the airlines and others, 108 lawsuits have been filed in federal court, along with an unknown number of personal injury claims.
(Newsday)
American Air Defense Was Unprepared for Attacks, Says 9/11 Commission - Jun 16, 2004
The independent commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks has found that the Pentagon's domestic air-defense command was disastrously unprepared for a major terrorist strike on American soil and was slow and confused in its response to the hijackings that morning, according to officials who have read a draft report of the commission's findings.
(New York Times)
Sharpton Pushes For Diversity in Ground Zero Construction - Jun 11, 2004
The Rev. Al Sharpton plans to lead a march from Ground Zero to City Hall on June 21 to convince World Trade Center development officials to steer more construction jobs to blacks and Latinos.
(Newsday)
Bloomberg Calls on Homeland Security Chief to Stand Up to Congress on Funds - Jun 5, 2004
Michael R. Bloomberg called yesterday on the homeland security secretary, Tom Ridge, to stand up to Congress over what the mayor has repeatedly characterized as its efforts to shortchange New York City on anti-terrorism money.
(New York Times)
FBI Criticizes NYPD for Stealing Glory in Terrorist Arrest - Jun 4, 2004
New York's FBI director has put his anger at NYPD officials into words - firing off an internal memo that blasted them for hogging the credit for last week's terrorist arrest.
(New York Daily News)
Kentucky Woman Quilts 9/11 Tribute - Jun 4, 2004
Nearly three years after the attack on the World Trade Center, Mary M. Henderson wants to let the city’s firefighters know she hasn’t forgotten their sacrifice and loss. The Kentucky grandmother spent more than a year cross-stitching the names and company affiliations of all 343 firefighters who died on 9/11 onto a king-sized quilt. Now that it’s done, Henderson, 48, would like to deliver her red-white-and-blue tribute to the firefighters in Ten House across from ground zero.
(Downtown Express)
As New York Fumes, Wyoming Says It Needs Antiterror Funding Too - Jun 1, 2004
It is hard to imagine there are many terrorist threats in a place where tumbleweeds regularly blow down the streets, as they do in Cheyenne, Wyoming's largest city and state capital. For those who doubt, however, Wyoming officials point to the two men, thought by the state police to be white supremacists, who were stopped while carrying nine pipe bombs in the rented trailer attached to their rented truck. Wyoming officials disposed of the bombs using a robot bought with a federal antiterrorism grant. That grant was part of the very antiterrorism program that Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg recently called "pork barrel politics at its worst."
(New York Times)
Port Authority Police Had Problems on 9/11 As Well - Jun 1, 2004
With all the focus on the city's fire and police agencies, the role of the Port Authority Police in the Sept 11, 2001 response seemed almost overlooked during the 911 Commission hearings. About 200 Port Authority cops responded to the crisis, and 37 officers and supervisors were killed -- the largest single-day loss of life for a police department in the country's history. While the department played a key role in evacuations, the 911 Commission staff found in a preliminary report that its response was hampered by the same kinds of problems that the city police and fire departments experienced.
(Newsday)
9/11 Commission Exposed Problems in Rescue Effort - Jun 1, 2004
The city's response on Sept. 11, 2001 wasn't the picture of coordination that former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and his emergency leaders painted for the 9/11 commission, the panel's staff concluded. Newsday offers a look at some of the conclusions reached, and detail developed, by the staff or in testimony before the commission in New York last month.
(Newsday)
Mistress of 9/11 Victim Sues His Widow For Greater Share of Benefits - May 28, 2004
The mistress of a Port Authority officer who died in the attack on the World Trade Center is suing his widow, seeking a greater share of benefits for a child from their affair
(New York Post)
Police Fear Attack in New York - May 27, 2004
Police officials fear that New York will be hit with another Al Qaeda terror strike, according to an NYPD memo obtained by the Daily News.
(New York Daily News)
New Yorkers Shrug Off Terror Warnings - May 27, 2004
New Yorkers took the latest terror warnings in stride. They believe the city is a likely terror target, particularly when the Republican National Convention is at Madison Square Garden this summer. But they have lived through too many alerts in recent years to do anything different.
(New York Daily News)
Officials Tell New Yorkers Not to Worry About Warnings - May 27, 2004
Relax, New York - and leave the worrying to us. That was the message of calm delivered yesterday by Gov. Pataki, Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, even as the White House warned of possible terror attacks against the U.S. in the coming months.
(New York Daily News)
News Program Offers Cops Federal Terrorism Information - May 26, 2004
Cops on the beat in New York and Vermont will be able to instantly check suspects against the U.S. government's terrorist watch lists under a first-of-its-kind, FBI-coordinated program announced Tuesday. FBI Director Robert Mueller said the system will give state and local police a way of checking 12 databases maintained by federal agencies, and provide officers with a direct line to federal agents to report suspicious activities.
(Associated Press)
Ridge Warns of Summer Attacks; Does Not Name NYC Specifically - May 26, 2004
Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Wednesday that new information on a terrorist threat against the United States "talks about an attack" but said there is no need to raise the national alert level. New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said city officials had not been advised that terrorists were plotting an attack there.
(Associated Press)
1,700 Cops, Firefighters Sue City Over 9/11 Sicknesses - May 24, 2004
In a dramatic sign of escalating health problems stemming from 9/11, more than 1,700 cops and firefighters have filed lawsuits against the city claiming they were sickened by work at Ground Zero or the Fresh Kills landfill. To handle the unprecedented legal overload, the city's Law Department set up a special division to tackle 9/11 claims and appointed attorney Kenneth Becker as chief of the World Trade Center unit.
(New York Daily News)
Developing New Standards for Emergency Preparedness after 9/11 - May 24, 2004
Newsweek’s Jennifer Barrett spoke with Arthur E. Cote, of the American National Standards Institute and the National Fire Protection Association two groups working together to establish national emergency preparedness standards. Cote spoke about what went wrong on September 11 and how the new standards will address those problems. Excerpts:
(Newsweek)
In Time of Terror, Police Commissioner Gains Power - May 24, 2004
At a time when New York finds itself on the front lines in the worldwide battle with terror, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly is emerging as the city's top general, a city official with unparalleled influence in the Bloomberg administration. Perhaps the most powerful police commissioner in a generation, he wields enormous clout in City Hall as he strives to oversee the city's response to the terror threat and the safety of its streets, say former city officials and senior aides to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.
(New York Times)
It May Take 2nd Attack To Fix Intelligence Problems, Says 9/11 Commissioner - May 23, 2004
It may take another catastrophic attack on America before there is the political will to fix problems with the nation's intelligence and counterterrorism efforts, the chairman of the 9/11 commission told the Daily News. The commission, which completed two days of emotional hearings in Manhattan last week, is drafting a blueprint for how Congress and President Bush can revamp the system that allowed 19 hijackers to conduct the most deadly terror attack in U.S. history.
(New York Daily News)
Senator Recommends Military-Like Communication for NYC's First Responders - May 23, 2004
Police, firefighters and EMTs should adapt military communication techniques and technology when responding to emergencies, Sen. Chuck Schumer said yesterday. Schumer is introducing a bill to establish a new agency responsible for keeping rescue workers on the same wavelength.
(New York Post)
Bloomberg: Lack of Funding Increases Likelihood of Terrorist Attack - May 20, 2004
Michael R. Bloomberg told the independent commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks yesterday that the federal government is placing New York City in greater danger by providing too little money to defend the city against future terrorist attacks. Describing the nation's counterterrorism budget as "pork barrel politics at its worst,'' Mr. Bloomberg told the commission that under current spending formulas, states and cities with little threat of being attacked are getting far more in federal subsidies per capita than New York. "It's the kind of shortsighted 'me first' nonsense that gives Washington a bad name,'' the mayor said, and "has the effect of aiding and abetting those who hate us and plot against us."
(New York Times)
Giuliani Left in Tough Spot After Testimony From His Former Commissioners - May 19, 2004
Three top aides to Rudolph Giuliani left the ex-mayor with much to explain today when he faces the Sept. 11 commission. Giuliani's last police, fire and emergency management chiefs bumped and weaved their way through the panel's questions, in the bureaucratic style they once honed before the City Council.
(Newsday)
Police Commissioners Offer Different Perspectives to Panel - May 17, 2004
When the city's top cop and his predecessor testify tomorrow before the Sept. 11 commission, they will bring two very different perspectives on the NYPD's role in a terror-plagued world.
(New York Daily News)
City Stages Anti-Terror Drill Downtown - May 17, 2004
More than 1,000 emergency workers descended on the Bowling Green subway station before dawn yesterday as two explosions ripped through the tunnel. In this staged nightmare, 40 people were killed and 170 injured - triggering a coordinated response from 20 city, state and federal agencies.
(New York Daily News)
Mayor Assails Critics of Emergency Response Plan - May 17, 2004
Michael R. Bloomberg yesterday attacked critics who say his new plan to coordinate the city's response to emergencies does not go far enough to prevent squabbling and confusion between the Police and Fire Departments. "I don't know what they do for a living, but they should probably go back to whatever they do," Mr. Bloomberg said in his first public remarks since the new incident command system was announced Friday.
(New York Times)
Gang Members Charged With Terrorism Under New State Law - May 14, 2004
Five members of a Bronx gang of violent Mexican soccer enthusiasts have been charged with terrorism and other offenses under an anti-terror law that went into effect a week after 9/11, cops said yesterday. The five - members of the so-called St. James Boys - are accused of murder, manslaughter, weapons possession, assault and robbery, among other crimes. The gang members were the first suspects charged with terrorism under the state law, which went into effect Sept. 17, 2001.
(New York Post)
Council: MTA Dragging on Terror Plans - May 14, 2004
The MTA's counter-terrorism plans are unfolding too slowly, according to City Council members who say the pace jeopardizes safety. Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials testified in a council hearing Thursday that the agency plans to spend at least $200 million of $591 million in available security funds. But they could not say when they would spend the rest of the money, triggering criticism from council members.
(Newsday)
Council Speaker Wants Volunteer Disaster Worker Program - May 11, 2004
Council Speaker Gifford Miller wants to enlist an army of City University students to help cops and firefighters in case of another disaster. "During a disaster, first responders may not be able to address every emergency in every neighborhood," Miller told a workshop on preparedness, held yesterday at one of CUNY's campuses, Baruch College in Manhattan.
(New York Post)
Manhattan Wind Studied to Defend Against Chemical Attack - May 10, 2004
Researchers are reportedly planning to release a harmless gas in Manhattan to study how chemicals might disperse in the event of a terrorist attack. According to Newsday, a time and place have not been set, but the experiment could take place around Madison Square Garden and the Empire State Building.
(NY1)
Security Guards Attempt to Arrest Man For Photographing Building - May 10, 2004
Camera buff Ram Porat didn't think twice about snapping pictures of an Upper West Side housing complex - until he was surrounded by security guards with post-9/11 jitters who put him under "civilian arrest." Now Porat, 43, has filed a lawsuit against the Lincoln Towers complex and the city, saying his rights were violated by the guards who demanded he stop taking pictures and the cops who charged him with trespassing at their request.
(New York Post)
MTA Failing on Antiterror Measures, Says Ex-Engineer - May 7, 2004
The MTA could be doing a "faster and cheaper" job of protecting the subway system from a terror attack, and has failed to focus on the system's most vulnerable spots, such as the East River tunnels, a former transit engineer said yesterday.
(New York Post)
Freedom Tower Will Break Ground on July 4 - May 6, 2004
Groundbreaking for the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower - the signature new building at Ground Zero - will take place on the Fourth of July, Gov. Pataki said yesterday.
(New York Daily News)
Miller Blasts Mayor for Personal Anti-Missle System - May 6, 2004
Council Speaker Gifford Miller charged yesterday that Mayor Bloomberg is sending a mixed message by reportedly equipping his corporate jets with a missile defense system while insisting everyone is safe. "This is a mayor who tells New Yorkers to go about their business," said Miller, who is considering a mayoral run in 2005. "But not every New Yorker can go about their business with a $5 million anti-missile system. If he knows something we don't, he should tell us before we book our next flight," Miller added.
(New York Post )
Next Anti-Terror Drill Planned For Subways - May 2, 2004
The city's next high-profile disaster drill will simulate a subway incident in lower Manhattan, sources said. The mock mishap is planned in and around the Bowling Green station for early on May 16, a Sunday, when mass transit use is relatively sparse.
(Newsday )
Governor Wants Additional Anti-Terror Team For New York - Apr 30, 2004
Gov. George Pataki is pushing federal authorities to launch a second specialized National Guard team in New York to detect weapons of mass destruction, saying the current outfit needs more help. Currently, 31 states have Civil Support Teams to screen for chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons. The group in New York has been used at times of heightened security alerts, often in New York City.
(Albany Times Union)
Homeland Security Funds Going To Communities That Don't Need It, Finds Congressional Study - Apr 28, 2004
Millions of dollars in federal homeland security aid has gone to communities that don't need it, and billions more remain unspent, according to a congressional study released Tuesday. The report affirms complaints of New York officials who say they've been shortchanged in homeland security grants and will fuel their push to require that the federal government give a greater share of funds to high-risk areas.
(Newsday)
$5 Billion in Antiterror Aid Reportedly Stuck in Pipeline - Apr 28, 2004
More than $5 billion in federal money to help communities brace for terrorist attacks has not yet reached the local authorities and remains stuck in the administrative pipeline, Congressional officials said Tuesday. That is more than 80 percent of the money approved by Congress to help cities, counties and states since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and efforts to prepare for possible attacks may be lagging as a result, a new Congressional analysis has found.
(New York Times)
New York Emergency Responders Not Prepared for Chemical Attack - Apr 28, 2004
More than two years after 9/11 and nine years after a Japanese cult released a toxic gas on the Tokyo subway system, the majority of New York City's emergency medical technicians are not properly trained to enter a contaminated zone and treat victims, officials said Tuesday. Of 3,000 paramedics and emergency medical technicians in the city, only 133 have the necessary training.
(New York Times)
After Nine Month Delay, Metropolitan Transportation Authority Begins To Spend Security Funds - Apr 27, 2004
The MTA began spending $591 million in security funds Monday, nine months after the money was first approved. A committee that oversees major projects approved the hiring of four firms to bolster the system's terrorism preparedness through several projects. Officials declined to say what exactly the firms will do, citing security concerns.
(Newsday)
First Class Graduates From Fire Department's Anti-Terror School - Apr 27, 2004
A group of elite firefighters graduated yesterday from the FDNY's first-ever anti-terror school. In a City Hall ceremony, Mayor Bloomberg praised the graduates - top fire chiefs, captains, marshals and medics - who spent 14 weeks delving into the minds and means of the world's vilest terrorists.
(New York Daily News)
Terrorism Concerns Inspire More Training for Transit Workers - Apr 27, 2004
Although the need to evacuate subway trains because of fires or other problems has always been a part of travel underground, emergency training for transit workers has taken on newfound importance in a jittery world of orange alerts and terrorist threats. Partly because of terrorism concerns, transit officials are planning to offer the daylong fire safety and evacuation training sessions to more workers and make those who have already gone through it do so more often.
(New York Times)
9/11 Commission to Criticize Domestic Air Defense System - Apr 25, 2004
The commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks is expected to offer sharp criticism of the Pentagon's domestic air-defense command in its final report, according to commission officials who said they believed that quicker military action might have prevented a hijacked passenger plane from crashing into the Pentagon itself.
(New York Times)
Fire Department Lagging on Communication, Terror Training - Apr 23, 2004
New York City Fire Department, while retaining a strong esprit de corps after the Sept. 11 attack, is nonetheless hurt by an inability to communicate during fires and other emergencies, a new workplace study reports. Moreover, half of the firefighters and their supervisors who participated in the study said they had not received enough training to handle "terror-related incidents."
(New York Times)
Train Crash Tests First Responders - Apr 20, 2004
Since the 9/11 terror attacks, cops and firefighters have been drilling regularly to coordinate their response to major emergencies. Penn Station has been of major concern, especially with the Republican National Convention coming this summer. A train crash yesterday tested their reactions.
(New York Daily News)
Police Department Racks Up Big Bill in Anti-Terror Efforts - Apr 19, 2004
The U.S. occupation of Iraq has cost the New York City Police Department more than $200 million as it has beefed up efforts to protect the city. That stark figure underscores how financial support for the domestic fight against terrorism remains a critical issue, with still no sizable amount of money from the federal government, Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.
(New York Daily News)
Panel Calls For More Environmental Testing at Ground Zero - Apr 13, 2004
In a major breakthrough for advocates, a panel of experts looking at the 9/11 health fallout agreed yesterday to recommend the federal government do more comprehensive testing around Ground Zero.
(New York Daily News)
Senator Schumer Criticizes Security at Passenger Ship Terminals - Apr 11, 2004
The failure to install high-tech "fingerscanners" at Manhattan's passenger ship terminal leaves a "gaping hole on the Hudson" for terrorists to exploit during the Republican National Convention, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said Saturday.
(Newsday)
Rice Knew of Al-Qaeda Surveillance of New York - Apr 9, 2004
Condoleezza Rice told the 9/11 Commission Thursday that the Bush Administration was aware of al-Qaida's "surveillance" of buildings including the Federal Courthouse in lower Manhattan and threats that the building could be the target of a possible terrorist attack.
(Newsday)
Impact of Ground Zero Still Powerful - Apr 9, 2004
The topic of Sept.11 was a powerful draw on Tuesday. Local older residents flocked to the Inn at HillenVale to hear Carl Askew, Columbus American Red Cross director of labor relations, speak about his experiences during three months at Ground Zero. Askew used his labor and union background to act as the liaison between the ARC and the AFL-CIO union during the three months immediately following the terrorist attacks in New York. During that time, the current Apple Valley resident became deeply immersed in the disaster relief efforts.
(Mount Vernon News)
Transit Workers Will Be Included In Anti-Terror Training - Apr 8, 2004
Transit workers will take part in anti-terror exercises, police said yesterday - a day after the Daily News detailed union gripes about being shut out of the training sessions.
(New York Daily News)
Transit Workers Say They're Being Left Out of Anti-Terror Training - Apr 7, 2004
Transit workers complain they're being left out of NYPD anti-terror training exercises - potentially putting riders in greater danger if there's an attack.
Concerns over the Madrid train bombings and a federal warning that New York buses and subways could be targeted prompted union leaders to demand a role in the training sessions.
(New York Daily News)
Clinton Calls For $570 Million For Tunnel Security - Apr 3, 2004
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday that the current wave of terrorism concerns surrounding the nation's railways make it imperative for officials to increase security around New York City's rail tunnels.
(Associated Press)
10,000 Police Officers Train in Terror Preparedness For Convention - Apr 2, 2004
Police officers from across the city played out terrorist scenarios yesterday, from a gas attack in a hotel room to an explosion in a subway in preparation for the Republican National Convention in August. The two-day drill, called COBRA training, is part of a goal of Police Commissioner Ray Kelly to train 10,000 members of the department in terrorist preparedness for the upcoming convention.
(Newsday)
Stock Exchange Is Now Policing Public Streets Downtown - Apr 1, 2004
At the present time, a private police force controls the public streets in the vicinity of the New York Stock Exchange," Justice Walter B. Tolub of State Supreme Court wrote last month. "The specter of private police forces patrolling public streets is unacceptable," he concluded, "and private entities may not take the law into their own hands, no matter how well intentioned."
(New York Times)
Downtown's Economy Looking Strong - Mar 31, 2004
The reluctance of many New Yorkers to reside and work downtown because of what happened there — terrorist attacks and the ensuing loss of 3,000 lives — has just about vanished, according to real estate and city sources. Indicative of this:
•Surging housing prices,up an estimated 10% to 12% year over year, and a steady flow of new residential construction,with a lot of it on a luxurious scale.
•Major jobs recovery, with 78% of the nearly 9,900 jobs lost since the Septmber 11 attacks in 2001 having been regained as of March 2003, according to the Partnership for New York City. It further notes that 72 of downtown’s largest companies have made commitments for an average 10 years that will result in the retention of 60,000 jobs, while federal incentives for smaller firms have enabled 1,352 businesses to create and retain an additional 23,293 jobs.
•A slew of new stores, resulting in an estimated 6% to 8% increase in retail space since 2002. One sign of the recovery of Lower Manhattan is the rebound in $1 millionplus condominium sales at the Ritz Carlton hotel in Battery Park, just a heartbeat away from where the twin towers once stood. A Ritz Carlton spokeswoman describes interest as strong, with only eight apartments left of the 115 offered for sale on the 15th to 40th floors perched above the hotel portion.
(New York Sun)
Statue of Liberty To Reopen in July, WIth Limitations - Mar 31, 2004
For the first time since the 2001 terrorist attacks, the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty will be open beginning in July to visitors, thanks to $7 million in private donations — $100,000 from Mayor Michael Bloomberg. But the National Parks Service may never allow the public back into the copper-clad statue itself, according to Interior Secretary Gale Norton.
(Newsday)
Mayor Donates $100,000 for Statue of Liberty Security - Mar 30, 2004
Lady Liberty has a new man in her life and, just like her, he has lots of green. Mayor Bloomberg, one of the richest men in the world, has donated $100,000 to help reopen the shuttered Statue of Liberty, the Daily News has learned.
(New York Daily News)
Security Tightened for Passover - Mar 30, 2004
Elite squads of counterterrorism cops will safeguard potential targets in Jewish communities as part of a massive NYPD effort to protect the city during Passover.
(New York Daily News)
Federal Government Criticized For Leaving 9/11 Rescue Workers Without Medical Care - Mar 29, 2004
Hundreds of Ground Zero workers have lingering illnesses, but the government isn't paying for their care, said a leading doctor and two federal lawmakers.
Of 700 workers in a treatment program at Mount Sinai Medical Center, three-quarters still suffer from upper-respiratory problems brought on by work at the World Trade Center site, said Dr. Robin Herbert, co-director of the hospital's Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine. More than 40% suffer post-traumatic stress, said Herbert.
(New York Daily News)
Metropolitan Transportation Authority Doubles Police Budget - Mar 29, 2004
The MTA has nearly doubled its police budget over the last three years in an effort to beef up security at its sprawling transportation network, guarding against a terror attack, officials said.
(New York Post)
Statue of Liberty Will Reopen To Public - Mar 26, 2004
You can almost see the twinkle in the lady's eye. Federal officials revealed yesterday that the Statue of Liberty, which has been shuttered for more than two years, is about to reopen to the public.
(New York Daily News)
New Process to Guide Historical Preservation at Ground Zero - Mar 26, 2004
Criticized by preservationists and victims' relatives for indifference to the physical remnants of the World Trade Center, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation proposed yesterday to create a review procedure that would guide the treatment of historical elements at the site for 10 years. The corporation's proposal would open future decisions about structural remains to review by preservationists, civic groups, architectural and planning organizations and relatives' representatives. Those remains include column footings from the twin towers, the foundation wall, smoke-scarred ruins of the underground parking garage, the tubes and terminal of the Hudson & Manhattan Railroad and a stairway leading to the vanished plaza.
(New York Times)
9/11 Scammer Sentenced to Rikers - Mar 26, 2004
Everybody's working for the weekend - except millionaire 9/11 charity scammer Beatrice Kaufman. Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Roger Hayes yesterday sentenced Kaufman to spend the next 52 weekends in Rikers Island for bilking relief organizations out of $78,000 and trying to scam them out of hundreds of thousands dollars more.
(New York Post )
Richard Clarke:Terrorism Was Not Urgent For Bush - Mar 25, 2004
Former top counterterrorism adviser Richard A. Clarke told a special commission today that the Bush administration initially did not treat terrorism as "an urgent issue" and sidetracked his proposals to deal with the threat more aggressively. Clarke, appearing before the bipartisan commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, also criticized the FBI's performance in assessing domestic threats from the al Qaeda terrorist network before the attacks and called for the creation of a new domestic intelligence agency.
(Washington Post )
Suveillence Cameras Planned For Buses, Subways - Mar 25, 2004
Transportation officials are considering putting surveillance cameras in buses and subways, the Daily News has learned. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which has been boosting security since the terror attacks, has been in discussions with a French-based company that is outfitting Paris-area buses with surveillance equipment, sources said.
(New York Daily News)
Designers Struggle To Avoid Windswept Plaza Of World Trade Center - Mar 25, 2004
Austin J. Tobin Plaza was the official name of the vast open space at the World Trade Center. But most New Yorkers knew it as the Barren Windswept Plaza.
There is a chance they will recognize its successor, too, just by the gusts. "Typically, pedestrian-level wind conditions will be in the comfortable range," the draft environmental impact statement said about the planned World Trade Center redevelopment. "However, during some limited time periods, uncomfortable conditions may occur and activities like sitting, standing and walking may be impeded."
(New York Times)
Metropolitan Transportation Authority Lags On Security Measures - Mar 25, 2004
Improvements to two of the MTA's biggest security concerns — lighting and emergency radio communication in subway tunnels — are behind schedule due to unexpected problems, officials said Wednesday. Both issues have surfaced recently as NYC Transit focuses on its counter-terrorism preparedness and evacuation procedures.
(Newsday)
9/11 Commission: Bush, Clinton Adminstrations Both Failed on Terror - Mar 24, 2004
Both the Bush and Clinton administrations missed diplomatic and military opportunities to capture or kill Osama bin Laden before Sept. 11, 2001, according to reports yesterday by a federally appointed commission investigating the attacks.
(Newsday )
Answering Republican Criticism, Silver Proposes Anti-Terrorism Plan - Mar 24, 2004
A week ago, Gov. George E. Pataki and a chorus of Republican leaders accused the Democratic State Assembly of endangering the welfare of all New Yorkers by failing to act on a set of antiterrorism laws they have been pushing for two years. On Tuesday, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver shot back, proposing his own wide-ranging set of laws that he said would combat terrorism by doing everything from cracking down on money laundering to tightening gun laws.
(New York Times)
Silverstein Testifies in Insurance Trial - Mar 24, 2004
Just a day or two after the Twin Towers fell on 9/11, a friend warned World Trade Center landlord Larry Silverstein that he "was facing a major insurance] problem," the developer told a jury yesterday. After six weeks of testimony from witnesses for 13 insurance companies fighting over the size of his WTC payout, a subdued Silverstein took the stand for 24 minutes in his $7 billion lawsuit against the insurers. Silverstein said he started to focus on the insurance ramifications of the disaster on Sept. 12 or Sept. 13.
(New York Post)
Silverstein Avoids Contempt of Court Charge - Mar 23, 2004
The developer Larry A. Silverstein narrowly escaped a civil contempt charge yesterday in the seventh week of a trial pitting him against his insurers for billions of dollars he seeks to rebuild the World Trade Center.
(New York Times)
Mayor Meets With Senate Majority Leader To Discuss Security - Mar 23, 2004
Mayor Bloomberg had an unannounced private meeting with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist at City Hall yesterday to talk about homeland-security funding and the upcoming Republican National Convention. The hush-hush get-together comes as some observers claim the Republican mayor seeks to distance himself from his party as he plans his re-election campaign in the heavily Democratic city.
Ed Skyler, the mayor's press secretary, said of the half-hour meeting, "They discussed federal aid for New York City, homeland-security funds, preparations for the Republican National Convention and transportation issues."
(New York Post)
Unprecedented Security Measures on Subways - Mar 22, 2004
In the wake of the commuter train bombings in Madrid that claimed 202 lives, the NYPD has mounted an unprecedented security effort in the city's subway system in the hopes of thwarting a massive terror attack here.
(New York Post)
Council Says Metropolitan Transportation Authority Is Wasting Terror Funds - Mar 19, 2004
With the train bombings in Madrid fresh in their minds, City Council members grilled city transportation officials yesterday over why they have not put nearly $600 million in federal anti-terror funds to use. Metropolitan Transportation Authority bosses appeared at a City Council budget hearing yesterday, but offered little information about what the agency plans to do with $591 million it received from the feds last summer.
(New York Daily News)
Judge Bans Silverstein From Insurance Trials - Mar 19, 2004
A Manhatan Federal Court judge barred World Trade Center leaseholder Larry Silverstein from being a spectator at his $7 billion insurance trial after the developer violated a gag order. Chief Judge Michael Mukasey said he was holding Silverstein in civil contempt for conducting a news conference Monday.
(New York Daily News)
Anti-Terror Money For Metrpolitan Transportation Authority Goes Unspent - Mar 18, 2004
The MTA has not spent any of the nearly $600 million in counter-terrorism funds that it received nine months ago, officials acknowledged Wednesday, explaining that building security projects takes time.
(Newsday)
Agencies Clashed Over Terror Drill - Mar 18, 2004
When the city's Office of Emergency Management was scouting a location to test response to an attack with a weapon of mass destruction, it first settled on Penn Station. But the various sides, who in a real emergency would be expected to work together to save lives, couldn't agree on how to carry out the drill without disrupting riders and commerce.
(Newsday)
Raw Confrontation In Albany Over Terror Bill - Mar 17, 2004
Against the backdrop of the terrorist bombings in Madrid, which Governor Pataki and Senate Republicans seized on as evidence that New York remains at risk, the emotional exchange showed how even two and a half years after the World Trade Center was destroyed, the issue can trigger a welter of strong feelings and tricky political equations. While Mr. Pataki has made the new terrorism laws, which were passed by the Senate on Tuesday, a priority of his administration, similar legislation was passed by the Senate last year only to die in the Assembly. The bills deal with everything from cyberterrorism to money laundering to safeguarding crops. This year, both because it is an election year for the lawmakers and because events overseas may serve as a reminder of the terrorist threat, Republicans are hoping the dynamic is different.
(New York Times)
Police Extend Stay In Spain - Mar 17, 2004
New York's anti-terrorism detectives dispatched to Spain after the fatal train bombings last week will stay there as long as necessary, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said yesterday.
(New York Daily News)
Terror Drill At Shea Stadium Provides Training - Mar 15, 2004
ith the specter of coordinated terrorist bombings on railroads in Madrid looming in the background, New York City staged one of the largest mock terrorist attacks in the nation at Shea Stadium yesterday morning. The drill began at 11 a.m., when the city's Office of Emergency Management detonated an unspecified type of fake weapon of mass destruction inside the stadium. Soon after, fire trucks and ambulances straggled through gridlock in the parking lot toward the stadium, while rescuers inside coped with fake rubble and terrorist suspects as they rushed mock victims to safety.
(New York Times)
Money From One 9/11 Charity Going To Its Lawyer -- Not Needy - Mar 15, 2004
A lawyer for the charity created by the three firefighters in the iconic flag-raising photograph at Ground Zero has reaped more than $500,000 in legal fees while the charity has given just $73,000 to the needy, the Daily News has learned.
(New York Daily News)
Schumer Calls For Tighter Security On Trains - Mar 14, 2004
The Madrid train bombings should serve as a wake-up call to protect the subway and American railways from terrorist attacks, Sen. Charles Schumer said Sunday.
Standing on the uptown platform of the No. 6 train at 33rd Street, Schumer called on the federal government to speed up development of bomb-detecting sensors for subway and rail stations.
(Newsday)
Madrid Bombings Cause Concerns About US Train Security - Mar 13, 2004
In the hours after the attacks, officials busily moved to put more bomb-detection teams, electronic devices and other measures in place from Washington to New York to Seattle. Transportation experts said, however, that the Madrid bombings underscored the fact that rail security had lagged woefully behind aviation improvements since the 9/11 attacks. And Democrats in Congress quickly proposed a $500 million commitment for rail security to help narrow the gap. Federal officials were most concerned about subway and train systems in and around New York City, Washington and other major Eastern cities.
(New York Times)
Security Remains High On Trains, As Police Team Gathers Information In Spain - Mar 13, 2004
For the second straight day, the police maintained a heightened presence in the New York City region's subways, commuter railroads and transit hubs. Meanwhile, New York police officials sent representatives to Madrid to learn about the attacks. The team will be looking for clues on a variety of issues, including where the explosive devices were placed and how they were detonated, he said. The information will be put into training materials and new programs as quickly as possible, he said.
(New York Times)
Officials Tell New Yorkers To Stay Calm After Madrid Attacks - Mar 13, 2004
A day after nearly 200 people were killed in a horrific train bombing in Madrid, Gov. Pataki reassured jittery New Yorkers yesterday that they were safe from terrorism. "Go about your lives just as if it were prior to Sept. 11," Pataki said at a hastily arranged press conference at Grand Central Terminal. Hours earlier, Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Peter Kalikow had ridden with subway riders cheek by jowl, inspecting the heightened security measures put in place after the Madrid attack.
(New York Daily News)
Subway Security Up After Madrid Bombing - Mar 12, 2004
Hours after deadly terrorist bombings at Madrid's train stations, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said yesterday that police and transportation officials had taken steps to increase security in New York's subways.
(New York Times)
New York Drops Out Of Anti-Terrorism Database - Mar 12, 2004
New York has dropped out of a multistate crime database program that civil-liberties groups have criticized as an invasion of privacy, state officials said yesterday. Questions over federal funding for the Matrix database and its potential benefits led state officials to withdraw from the program, said Lynn Rasic, a spokeswoman for the state Office of Public Security. State officials had also previously cited privacy issues as a concern.
(New York Post)
Passengers Tried To Stop Plane From Crashing Into Towers - Mar 9, 2004
The widow of a Gulf War veteran aboard doomed United Airline Flight 175 revealed for the first time yesterday that passengers tried to stop hijackers from crashing the plane into one of the Trade Center towers.
(New York Daily News)
Two New Documentary Films Look Back On 9/11 - Mar 4, 2004
In the two and a half years since they occurred, the events of Sept. 11, 2001, have become so enmeshed in politics, speculation and debate that in looking back one can be distracted from the trauma of the terrorist attacks themselves. Two documentaries, "Collateral Damages" and "The First 24 Hours," both by Étienne Sauret, return to the primal events.
(New York Times)
Vendors Banned From Streets Near Ground Zero - Mar 2, 2004
Legislators voted yesterday to limit the number of vendors who can hawk their wares on crowded Manhattan sidewalks, and to ban street sales near Ground Zero.
(New York Daily News)
New Look For Wall Street Security - Feb 25, 2004
The double ranks of pickup trucks that now control seven intersections leading to the New York Stock Exchange will be replaced with retractable posts, wedgelike vehicle barriers and custom-designed barricades resembling small sculptural bronze boulders. These and other elements of high-security landscaping, which were approved yesterday by the Landmarks Preservation Commission, are intended to protect the exchange from terrorists without sacrificing the public realm to the almost warlike blockades, including the trucks, that have been in place since Sept. 11, 2001.
(New York Times)
Federal Goverment Was Given Name Of 9/11 Hijacker Year Before Attack - Feb 24, 2004
American investigators were given the first name and telephone number of one of the Sept. 11 hijackers two and a half years before the attacks on New York and Washington, but the United States appears to have failed to pursue the lead aggressively, American and German officials say.
(New York Times)
As Donations For Statue Of Liberty Security Pour In, Estimate Of Cost Rises - Feb 22, 2004
First, the good news: $5.6 million in private funds has been raised to reopen the Statue of Liberty to visitors. Now, the bad news: The feds have revised their cost estimate upward and are saying it will take $7 million to redesign her interior for added security measures and exit routes.
(New York Daily News)
Mixed Reactions At Ground Zero Environmental Impact Hearing - Feb 19, 2004
The controversy that has surrounded nearly every aspect of the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site spilled over to the project's impact on the environment yesterday as New Yorkers had their first chance to express concerns publicly about traffic, air pollution and the availability of public space.
(New York Times)
As State Security Agency Gets On Its Feet, Some Question Whether It Is Necessary - Feb 17, 2004
Set up by Gov. George E. Pataki in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to reassure a jittery public and shape the state's response to terrorist threats, the still-evolving state Office Of Public Security passes along to localities hundreds of millions in federal aid intended to shore up the nation's defense against terrorism. Yet more than two years after it was formed, few state legislators or members of the public know exactly what it does or how it operates, and some question whether it is even necessary.
(New York Times)
Federal Government Should Pay For Statue Of Liberty Security, Says Congressman - Feb 17, 2004
Rep. Anthony Weiner slammed |