The NYPD has flooded the city with checkpoints and bomb detectors as they search for suspects in a "specific, credible but unconfirmed threat" involving car bombs to coincide with the tenth anniversary of 9/11. According to the Daily News, officials are now nervous that the terror threat suspects may be posing as construction workers to get close to tomorrow's memorial service. Currently, they are searching for three missing vehicles, including two belonging to Tully Construction in Queens, which is doing roadwork on West Street near WTC.
NYPD Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne explained that the stolen vehicles, two of which were taken September 1st and 2nd, may be the work of "industrial savy thieves looking to steal expensive construction equipment, but it's receiving greater scrutiny because of the threat environment." In addition to the three vans, approximately $70,000 in tools and construction equipment were also stolen by these thieves. "They made a considerable effort not to be detected," Browne added.
As for the intel on the threat which came in this week, the tip came from a reliable CIA informant in Pakistan who “has not been wrong before,” according to the Post's sources. The informant said that al Qaeda head Ayman al-Zawahiri personally recruited three terrorists for the task, including two who may have already been U.S. citizens. The informant added that the trio may attempt an attack similar to Faizal Shahzad’s failed Times Square car bombing last year.
Nevertheless, the CIA and FBI have not been able to corroborate the possible attack yet. Most New Yorkers seem to be following Mayor Bloomberg's advice to not be intimidate by the threat.
"This is New York. You're never really going to be safe. Everybody's cool here, everybody's chill. Sometimes you feel safe, sometimes you're not. This is where I grew up, so I got used to it. Everybody gets used to it sometimes," one local told NY1 outside of Penn Station.
