Mayor Bloomberg returned from London convinced more than ever that NYC needs to emulate the British capital's "Ring of Steel" surveillance system, which places cameras throughout the city to observe and help identify people in real time. He said that the danger of terrorism necessitated a similar system in New York, where plans are underfoot to install thousands of cameras and license plate readers in downtown Manhattan. "In London, they have two or three cameras......

About 10% of the MTA's bus fleet will have surveillance cameras installed as the MTA tries to upgrade security measures on its various vehicles. According to the Daily News, system, called TransitCam, will start out by just recording images for later use (for investigators to refer back to after a crime), but it can be upgraded for live video transmissions. Also, the Transit Authority hopes to use video footage to disprove accident claims. And we're......

It's not just Grand Central being secured these days. Oh no, the MTA wants in on that action too. They may not want bomb-proof garbage cans (sorry Weiner!) but that doesn't mean they don't want security, or at least the image of it. Hence the story in today's News on the MTA's recently approved plan to have a Staten Island marine firm "bolster underwater subway tunnels with layers of concrete and dirt to stop......

The City Council took the MTA to task for not moving quickly on security upgrades yesterday. You see, though there was a big $200+ million deal that the MTA signed with Lockheed Martin last summer, you know, three years after the MTA got about a $1 billion to spend on anti-terror initiatives, nothing has really happened since then. Sure, Lockheed Martin has been testing a "protoype artificial intelligence system" but installation won't be complete until......

On the top of our list of things we like to know but then wish we didn't know: The London Underground as announced that they rejected the subway surveillance system that the MTA will be putting into our subways. Hmm, that makes our new hi-tech deal seem, well, not that special. The NY Post says that the London Underground felt that things like the "intelligent video cameras" which are supposed to notice unattended bags don't......

Ah, there's nothing like Clyde Haberman taking on cell phone service in the subways in his NY Times column:Say goodbye to some of the last refuges from the endless, witless yakking on cellphones that is epidemic in this city. The terrorists can thus claim a success. They will have made it easier than ever for New Yorkers to drive one another crazy. All too many of them, you may have noticed, are not noted for......

The MTA unveiled it's $212 million security deal with Lockheed Martin yesterday, showing off what the NY Times calls an "ambitious plan" to "saturate the subways with 1,000 video cameras and 3,000 motion sensors and to enable cellphone service in 277 underground stations - but not in moving cars - for the first time." Stations with more traffic will get first priority for the important bells and whistles, so think the bigger transit hubs......

The MTA has asked Lockheed Martin to help install various security devices on its train and bus systems in a $200 million deal. The MTA weather criticism earlier this year when it was revealed it had only spent a tiny bit of the nearly $1 billion it said would be allocated towards security. Gothamist wonders what's more annoying - designing tanks for the feds or security systems for the city. We also think it's funny......