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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.
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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.
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.
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.
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...
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!
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.
i'm just glad my building took the huge prudential sign off the facade yesterday.
Hmm, how wonderful that the Citicorp tower was supposedly Terrorist Target Number One and Laura Bush and those lovely twins had the Courage™ to defy Those Who Hate Us and make an appearance! Thankfully the fair and balanced New York Post can reassure us that all the Citicorp workers were touched and blessed by this act of benevolence and apolitical generosity.
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.
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!
I did read the entire article (and many more). Yes, I know they uncovered a collection operation where The Terrorists® gathered lots of information. Like I asked, why was this terror alert issued now as opposed to when they first found out about it? Why not beef up security at Prudential, NYSE, IMF, World Bank and CitiGroup years ago? The timing is suspicious. All of the sudden, manhole covers are sealed, barricades are erected -- not when they found out about the operation years ago, but right after the convention.
Remember the terror alert Ashcroft issued a few weeks ago, warning Americans to look out for terrorists who looked "European"? The one even Ridge wouldn't back-up? Yeah, that's a specific warning -- watch out for European-looking terrorists. That warning was issued right after Kerry announced Edwards as his veep and he got a slight bump in the polls. I try and try to give the government the benefit of the doubt but I'm getting sick of this.
Speaking of the Post and News, as much as I like reading about Paris' bruises and crazy helper monkeys (see today's News!), they didn't cover this story. Maybe tomorrow they will, but I doubt it.
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.
"Naturally, the common people don’t want war, but after all, it is the leaders of a country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. This is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in every country.” H. Goerring
"If you want to be a hero then just follow me." J. Lennon