City Does It Thing During Terror Alert

Amid the terror alerts and warnings, yesterday was pretty much like any other summer day in the city, except with a bit more noticeable police presence, less truck passings into Manhattan, and a politician or three in the building. The NY Times looked at activities in the five targeted buildings yesterday. The First Lady and the First Twins visited the Citigroup building on East 53rd Street; the Mayor and Governor Pataki also visited the Citigroup building as well as the NY Stock Exchange. The Daily News reports that the Mayor took the subway and later held a barbecue for city employees, all in an effort to remind NYers to remain calm. Hmm, Gothamist wonders if "Barbecue at the Boss's place" is "We have a terror report" in City parlance, but we're more curious about what kind of 'cue was served. All this a NY Times story says that the reports the recent terror warnings were based on may have been years old! The Mayor and White House said that the terror warnings are frequently updated, this information still stands, there were recent reports, it's good to be warned, etc. Gothamist is happy to be warned, but we're definitely interested to understand more about this information - we worry about boy-who-cried-wolf syndrome.

The Post looked at what happens to restaurants and grocery stores when their delivery trucks are rerouted - the police were really checking trucks and cars. And our readers note the security measures at the Citigroup and other buildings; Gothamist noticed people tense up momentarily when a police cars, sirens blazing, sped by but then we all just crossed the street and moved on.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on August 3, 2004 8:26 AM

Comments [rss]

Tom

While we're on this topic - my wife and six of her colleagues made their way to Houston's inside the Citicorp building yesterday for lunch, for what might be possibly the first party of seven to ever get a table immediately. She said while they were pretty much the only people there, the food was as good as always, and the staff was super nice. Hopefully this "empty" trend won't continue to be the case at this and other restaurants in concerned buildings.

jenny

Bloomberg wouldn't have had to go on the citywide Remain Calm Tour if Bush and his cronies would just shut up already. Do they think this is going to make New Yorkers more welcoming of their stupid convention. Bring 'em on!

Sonya

That's the secret of controlling people: get them scared and they will do anything you want them to do. That's why dictators don't like humor--once you stop taking the dictator/controller seriously, the game is up. So, the key is to keep the people scared--war abroad, terrorist threats at home.

honey2

i'm just glad my building took the huge prudential sign off the facade yesterday.

George

These are rough times. As long as I can surf for pornography and take my prozac, I am okay. If it gets worse, I get drunk at my favorite bar. Is New York heaven or hell? I don't really know.

james

hey Dirk, read the whole article in the Times, not just the headline. "What we've uncovered is a collection operation as opposed to the launching of an attack," a senior American official said.

As for not reading the Post or the News, screw that. There was a great Page Six piece about Paris Hilton's bruises and the always informative Hamptons insider. Together with the puff piece on Tom Cruise, it was great subway ride to work today!

Dirk

Read today's papers (not the Post or News, of course). From AP to the NY Times, they're all reporting that the info about this terror alert is several years old -- why the sudden ringing of alarms? Oh wait, the Democratic convention was last week...

Estella

As I have been to the mayor's BBQ shindigs before, I can assure you that you aren't missing too much. Although the grounds of Gracie mansion are nice, the fare is mainly hotdogs, hamburgers, and the typical punch/coleslaw/pickles. Hope this helps the curiousity.

dirtgirl

man, this sucks! in the past cops would appear randomly, but no more than once a month, at the entrance to the williamsburg bridge from the BQE and just sit there all day in their cars, drinking coffee or something, closing down a lane. traffic would back up for miles, adding a half hour or more to my commute. and they wouldn't do shit, they weren't even LOOKING at the cars that went by.

SO NOW... they seem to be doing this every day and are at least standing on the road and looking into cars as they pass by. I guess that's additional security, but it means an extra three hours a week sitting in my car.

I agree with you, evamn, they are going to make this city totally unliveable by the time they're done.

evamn

How come I get this feeling all these shenagegans are for advertisement of the upcoming Republican Convention?

I'm near the Stock Exchange and the situation is ridiculous. They have taken this historic district and turned it into obstacle course. The whole area has been filled with hideous barriers of various types and use trucks as moveable barricades. It has destroyed the whole flavor of the neighborhood. I agree that some measures need to be taken into consideration, but please stop making feel like an over grown forgotten construction site.