In case you're wondering what those fighter planes are doing flying over the city today, it's just your tax dollars blowing over Yankee Stadium on opening day. According to the Office of Emergency Management, low-flying planes will blast over the stadium at 1 p.m.; they're from the Fighter Squadron Composite Twelve (VFC-12), a U.S. Navy Reserve fighter squadron. Major League Baseball's website adds that "franchise icons" Whitey Ford and Yogi Berra will also be in attendance to hand out the Yankees World Series Rings. And if you're going to the game, you should probably get a move on; they say it's going to be a total mob scene. (NYC Transit recommends using the special events stairs at the rear of the uptown 4 train platform.) more ›

Even though texting while driving is now illegal, government agencies continue to send text messages to motorists. In what the Daily News calls "an ironic communication breakdown," thousands of New York drivers receive texts about traffic and road conditions from government agencies despite a statewide ban on checking and sending texts while behind the wheel. more ›

Yesterday morning, the FDNY, NYPD, Port Authority Police, Office of Emergency Management and additional agencies converged on the World Trade Center PATH station in lower Manhattan to participate in a full-scale exercise—Operation Safe PATH 2009— to test their response to an improvised explosive device detonation. While PATH service was suspended and the immediate area were closed off to vehicular and pedestrian traffic, over 800 emergency responders, plus 150 volunteers who portrayed victims, participated in the drill, which involved two (simulated) explosions that occurred on a NJ-bound PATH train about 1000-1200 feet into the tunnel. more ›

Tomorrow morning, the area around the World Trade Center site will be closed for a "full scale training exercise" held by the NYC Office of Emergency Management and the Port Authority of NY and NJ. The exercise will simulate an explosion in one of the PATH train tunnels and will include over 800 first responders. The following streets will be closed to pedestrian and vehicular traffic between 6 a.m. and about 11:30 a.m.: Greenwich Street, West Broadway, and Church Street between Vesey Street (included) and Warren Street (not included); Vesey Street, Barclay Street, Park Place, and Murray Street between Broadway (not included) and West Street (not included). Also, the PATH will be not stopping at WTC—here are more details on PATH service tomorrow morning. more ›

You're warned: This Sunday, the Office of Emergency Management is overseeing a drill that will, according to the AP, "simulate a response to an explosion at a PATH commuter rail train in the tunnel between the World Trade Center site and northern New Jersey. Officials say there will be no sound of an explosion, but emergency vehicles will respond with flashing lights and sirens." First responders from the NYPD, FDNY, and Port Authority will be on hand for the exercise; Vesey Street, on the north side of ground zero, will be closed to all but emergency vehicles and PATH rail service will be suspended from 6 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. more ›

This morning the NYC Office of Emergency Management announced that "a P-3 Orion reconnaissance military plane will fly down and back up the Hudson River between the hours of 10:30 to 11:30 a.m." Coming as it does after the Air Force One photo-op debacle, the fly-by must have been for a pretty important reason, right? Well, the Post has it that it was arranged as a retirement present from a Naval base in Maine to a "veteran aviator." Apparently, the FAA had approved the request months ago and informed the city at that time, but had not specified the date until this morning. The Bloomberg administration says they didn't ask for the flight to be canceled, but informed the FAA that it would have been nice to have a little more notice to prepare New Yorkers for additional traumatic 9/11 flashbacks. After the NYC Office of Emergency Management announced the flyby, the FAA reversed itself and revoked permission for the flight, the AP reports. FAA party-poopers reportedly told commanders at Naval Air Station Brunswick that they couldn't risk further public panic for the sake of a going-away party. more ›

Don't fret if you see a large scene of police, fire department and EMTs between Chambers and Vesey Streets today. The city's Office of Emergency Management and Port Authority are practicing the city's response to a "simulated emergency." According to the alert, "People south of Chambers Street to Vesey Street may see first responders, but the effect on traffic should be minimal. World Trade Center PATH Station will remain open." more ›

So, Tropical Storm Hanna is on her way, and the NYC metro area is making sure it's ready. more ›