© 2024 Wyoming Public Media
800-729-5897 | 307-766-4240
Wyoming Public Media is a service of the University of Wyoming
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Transmission & Streaming Disruptions

New York City Beefs Up Security Ahead Of Sept. 11

Police officers watch travelers at the entrance of the Grand Central subway terminal in New York on  Thursday. Security measures around the city were increased two days before the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Mladen Antonov
/
AFP/Getty Images
Police officers watch travelers at the entrance of the Grand Central subway terminal in New York on Thursday. Security measures around the city were increased two days before the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

New York City was on high alert this week, even before Thursday night's announcement that there was a "credible but unconfirmed" terrorist threat to New York and Washington, D.C. Newspaper headlines screamed about a city on lockdown.

When the Navy SEALS entered Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan, they reportedly found documents and handwritten materials referring to the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. Given that information, New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly told a conference on security and counterterrorism Wednesday: "We have to take precautions as if an actual plot were under way."

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (left)  and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly hold a news conference on Thursday to discuss a "credible but unconfirmed" terrorist threat.
David Karp / AP
/
AP
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (left) and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly hold a news conference on Thursday to discuss a "credible but unconfirmed" terrorist threat.

The next night Kelly and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg held a news conference to discuss the threat and the city's response.

"Now the threat at this moment has not been corroborated," Bloomberg said. "I want to stress that. It is credible but it has not been corroborated. But we do live in a world where we must take these threats seriously, and we certainly will."

By Friday morning, people were already reporting more bag searches and being stopped at vehicle checkpoints all over the city. They noted police in the subways and train stations wearing helmets and bulletproof vests, and carrying assault rifles.

Kelly said there would be "increased focus on tunnels and bridges, and infrastructure in general, as well as landmark locations, houses of worship and government buildings."

Starting Saturday night, there will be a heavily guarded "frozen zone" around the World Trade Center site, which will extend several blocks in each direction.

Traffic will be diverted, and only people with credentials will be allowed in the area. Thousands of police officers will be mobilized. According to Kelly there will be "counter snipers, bomb technicians. Police divers will be inspecting the peers, pilots will be in the air, officers with radiation detection equipment, plainclothes officers to conduct surveillance, and our skywatch towers will be manned."

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Margot Adler died on July 28, 2014 at her home in New York City. She was 68 and had been battling cancer. Listen to NPR Correspondent David Folkenflik's retrospective on her life and career
Related Content