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This morning, a man bicycling on the George Washington Bridge took photographs of a guard sleeping in the west guard booth on the NJ side. According to Cliffview Pilot, taking the photographs was easy for Joey Lepore, who said, "I didn't even zoom it. I walked right up to the window... I saw him nodded out on my way over to the city and then again on my way back. Enough is enough!" And apparently this isn't the first time Lepore, who owns and operates Bicycle Tour New York, has seen a guard sleeping—he once said to one, "Please just stay awake. I'm not asking too much," and has photographs of a sleeping guard (possibly the same one as today) from August 5. MyFoxNY points out, "Officials have said that bridges and tunnels remain a prime target for terrorists. In the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, the Port Authority restricted photography on and on the bridge for security reasons (the rules have since been relaxed). In 2005 and 2006, the agency installed cylindrical bomb shields the section of the bridge's suspension cables closest to the deck." The Port Authority told Cliffview Pilot it was looking into the matter.
Bicyclist Sees GW Bridge Guard Sleeping On Job
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ever go through the lincoln tunnel at rush hour? you're bound to see a couple papd officers sleeping in their car. pathetic
We need to throw more money at this problem. That's the only way to fix it.
He was having sweet dreams of his great taxpayer-funded pension plan.
This is news? There is ALWAYS an NYPD car on each side of the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges, with an officer inside reading the newspaper or sleeping.
If there is a security concern, then they need to be paying attention. Since they've been posted there for 7-8 years now, sleeping most of the time, clearly there is not a security concern, so put them back on the streets.
but they have shiny lights. everyone knows shiny lights deter trrrists.
is this news? even take the bus to city hall going through Park Row? easiest job in the world.
i wish I had that dudes job today...
I don't think they need guards there at all -- it's security theatre. And most annoying of all, they put guards in place at the same time they restricted the hours pedestrians and cyclists can cross the bridge, all in the name of "security." While cars can cross at any time.
I've fallen asleep at my private sector job and I get paid good money.
Also, the chances of someone actually being able to pull of something that could structurally fuck up that bridge on foot is slim to none. Plus, they have every inch of it watched by about 100 cameras at any given moment from the command center.
You my son are total fucking asshole. If i was some towel head wearing maniac and I wanted to take out a tunnel or a bridge it would be as simple as running a fully loaded tank truck into the tunnel or bridge and not stopping to pay the toll.
Get with it idiot. Those people sleeping at the toll booths or stopping oversize vehicles ain't going to save the infrastructure. Look at any PA fool cops working at any tunnel. Bull shit. All it would take is two individuals to blast them away and open up the door to the big truck to come through. The two could just walk up behind them and pop them in the head. Great planning assholes.
You can carry a fully loaded tanker truck on foot? You must be huge!
I bike this bridge regularly and often see these guys sleeping. If they're awake, they're staring at a cellphone. They are for show.
These guards are positioned at the towers, and are ostensibly tasked with preventing people from climbing them, but every possible entrance is covered by heavy fencing and bars. They serve no purpose.
The GWB is a bit more remote and perhaps help is farther away if something goes wrong, but I don't understand why there are guards on the GWB (which closes to foot/bike traffic at midnight), but not on 24-hour East River bridges, where there's far more foot traffic.
I guess nosy bicyclists with cameraphones are who watches the watchmen.
What was the name of that distant early warning system that the US put into effect back in the fifties to thwart the commies from coming over the top? Was it DEW? How many billions upon billions was spent on that bullshit system?
Information like this shouldn't be reported by the media. Just go through the proper channels to make sure the problem gets fixed.
Loose Lips Sink Ships.
Airhorns
Just hand out airhorns to a few of these Puritan Work Ethic Cyclists and tell them to "wake up" any sleeping tunnel cops they see.
That would be interesting...just make sure the cameras catch the action so we can watch the videotape and then argue about it at Gothamist
The "no photography" signs on the GWB were removed about a year ago. Does that mean photography is now allowed?
He'd better stay awake while those NJ Turnpike toll booth thieves are on the loose. The losses could run into the tens of dollars.
"Loose lips sink ships"
Is American under attack?
Part of the problem in this country is terror-related security dopiness. Stop being afraid.
This sort of thing should be reported. We need to see how public money when public money is wasted and when the govt takes action. It's our bridge (which some of us ride over often) and our taxes.