Ring of Steel Surveillance Network Expanding to Midtown

The city will expand the downtown surveillance network commonly referred to as the "Ring of Steel" to midtown, using $24 million in Homeland Security grants. Mayor Bloomberg and NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly announced yesterday that the new "monitoring network" would cover the areas between 30th and 60th Streets, from the Hudson to the East River. Like the system downtown (formally called the "Lower Manhattan Security Initiative"), the expanded surveillance network would feed streams of data for analysis to a coordination center at 55 Broadway.

Bloomberg boasted yesterday that midtown would soon be as safe from terror as the area below Canal Street, which he described as "the best-protected financial center in the world." The midtown security initiative, expected to be in place by 2011, will tap into existing cameras operated by private companies, as well as additional security cameras. The area will also be equipped with license-plate readers and chemical-weapons detectors.

Unsurprisingly, civil liberties advocates are concerned. NYCLU director Donna Lieberman said, "There's no information with regard to who has access to the information, exactly what's being collected, how long it's being kept and whether it's been digitized into a massive database on the innocent and lawful comings and goings of millions of New Yorkers and visitors." New Yorkers on the street also expressed reservations; midtown pedicab driver Yavuz Alemdar told the Daily News, "I'm not going to be able to kiss my girlfriend now. I don't like the idea of being watched all of the time."

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By John Del Signore in News on October 5, 2009 10:50 AM

Comments [rss]

gothamguy

Wow, they are even outsourcing the monitoring to private firms. Those cameras are extremely powerful. It is bad enough that the NYPD could be looking in windows with them, but giving that access to the same guy who guards the door at Macy's?

Mr Mel

Hey we're all going to have to be on our best behavior. Stuff like picking one's nose or scratching your ass or walking around with your fly open is out. As well as gender incorrect hand holding, urinating in the street and flashing.

Steve

I always feel like somebody's watching me!

cmdrogogov

In the meantime, there are still transit cuts and worrying common delays, we won't be getting a new fare system until 2014, our bridges are falling apart and to cap it off we won't even be able to walk around most of Manhattan without getting hassled by a uniform with a badge and a swagger in their walk.

This city only seems good to live in if you work in law enforcement or security, it seems.

verbal

Like any other property 'owner' Boomberg just wants to be able to watch all his stuff.

Darius

Hotstepper is right. It doesn't work in London. Won't work here. Big Brother USA is coming to town.

...Can't wait till the tabloids start tapping in to spy on celebreties. Brave New World! ...

hotstepper

"safe from terror" my ass.

the cameras will be used to figure out what happened after a terrorist strike. before that time, the surveillance station will be a nice place for an officer to catch some on-shift zzz's.

Atomische

So ... are they saying that it's unsafe to hang out between Canal and 30th? There are just so many things wrong with this program.

Kojak

"I'm not going to be able to kiss my girlfriend now. I don't like the idea of being watched all of the time."

Don't you think your going to be watched anyway? I doubt they'll give a shit.