Homeland Security Chief Visits Grand Central

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael "I'm the guy who replaced Bernard Kerik as the nominee" Chertoff visited Manhattan today to "discuss funding with local officials and to inspect security efforts at Grand Central Terminal." Mayor Bloomberg and Senators Schumer and Clinton accompanied Chertoff, bugging him about forking over more funding for NYC security. Chertoff, a New Jerseyan, made the point, "The terrorists look for our weakest pressure point. And if you strengthen air security, they'll look at the port. And if you strengthen the port, they'll look at trucks. And if you strengthen trucks, they look at rail." Let's talk about security at Grand Central Terminal for a moment. Grand Central was targeted by Madrid's March 11 bombers, but the bombers were probably targeting anything that would cripple transportation and mean a lot to NYC; in other words, probably most everything. When Gothamist would commute through Grand Central, we'd see National guardspeople, police officers, and police dogs. But in terms of security risks on the trains... well, anyone who has rushed to make a Metro-North, LIRR, NJ Transit or even Amtrak train knows, there's no checking going on.