New York police increased security, including vehicle checkpoints in midtown Manhattan and armed guards in front of the Office of Emergency Management, after receiving credible information that terrorists may be plotting an attack in the city around the Sept. 11 anniversary.
Police cruisers took up positions on a midtown block of Lexington Avenue this morning as officers stopped trucks and other vehicles for inspection. Drivers were made to open the storage spaces of delivery trucks for police. In Brooklyn, U.S. marshals armed with machine guns guarded the federal courthouse and increased security was observed in front of the nearby city emergency management office.
“We have already had a full complement of people working shifts because of the Sept. 11 anniversary prior to this,” said Jim Margolin, a spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s New York office. “We are taking the logical investigative measures to assess this threat.”
The threat concerns a possible al-Qaeda-sponsored attack targeting New York or Washington on or near the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attack, said a U.S. official, who wasn’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly. The official said the intelligence concerns a possible vehicle-borne attack, perhaps on a transportation hub or bottleneck, and cautioned that the options may be broader than a car or truck bombing.
Interest in Anniversaries
“As we know from the intelligence gathered from the Osama bin Laden raid, al-Qaeda has shown an interest in important dates and anniversaries, such as 9/11,” Janice Fedarcyk, the FBI’s assistant director in charge of the New York office, said at a press conference yesterday. “In this instance, it’s accurate that there is specific, credible but unconfirmed information. We take all threats reported seriously and have taken and will continue to take all steps necessary to mitigate all threats as they arise.”
New Jersey’s Director of Homeland Security Charles McKenna said the threat involves two foreigners traveling into the U.S., where they may join a third party who is already here to carry out the attack. McKenna said New Jersey officials are concerned that as New York and Washington are “hardened targets,” the would-be attackers may turn to New Jersey as a back-up option.
McKenna said the state has increased security, though he declined to specify what steps have been taken.
No Surprise
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, speaking at a meeting of administration officials in Princeton, said people should not alter their plans and lives.
“This is nothing that should come to folks as any surprise nor is it something that should cause any panic,” Christie said. “The fact is that we live in a different world.”
On Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked four airliners. Two were flown into the twin World Trade Center towers in New York, destroying them; a third hit the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia; and one crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania after passengers attacked the hijackers. More than 3,000 people were killed.
New York police have stopped at least 13 terrorist attacks since 2001, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. While the killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has helped reduce the threat, the mayor said, “The one thing we know is the terrorists have not gone away.”
Foiled Plot
In February 2010, Colorado resident Najibullah Zazi pleaded guilty in Brooklyn federal court to a plot to detonate bombs on New York subways around the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
The Brooklyn federal courthouse has supplemented its usual security, said James Elcik, supervisor deputy U.S. marshal.
“We’re here to protect the building, and more importantly the people in it around the anniversary of 9/11 given the non- specific threat,” Elcik said, standing next to an armed guard on Adams Street, where tourists and bicyclists entered the pedestrian path over Brooklyn Bridge.
Elcik said it hadn’t been decided whether the extra security would also be in place Monday and throughout next week.
“The safety of our federal judiciary and security in the U.S. courthouses continue to be a top priority of the U.S. Marshals Service,” said Roland Ubaldo, a spokesman for Joseph Guccione, the U.S. Marshal of the Southern District of New York. “We take all threats reported seriously and we have taken and will continue to take all steps necessary to mitigate any threats that arise.”
Police Stand Guard
At the subway station in the Port Authority bus terminal at 42nd Street, two police officers stood guard at the turnstiles while two others patrolled the platform. Police officers in a group of four stood on the platform at Broadway and Murray streets in Lower Manhattan giving directions to tourists making their way to and from Ground Zero four blocks south.
“We have threats all the time,” Bloomberg said today during his weekly appearance on WOR radio, after having taken the subway to City Hall from his Upper East Side home. “Each time we increase our security, which obviously we had done for this. Are we increasing a little more? Yes, we’re increasing a little more but there’s a limit to how much you can have, just because you can’t have a cop on every corner. But remember, a lot of the precautions we take, you don’t see.”
Specific Threat
New York Republican Congressman Peter King, who heads the House Homeland Security Committee, said he was briefed on the threat, which he said was specific and credible.
“All appropriate agencies, the federal government, and state officials and local officials as well, are tracking it down to see if it is real, and if so, how do we stop it,” King said.
Another intelligence official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said the information hasn’t been fully vetted.
Terrorists view the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks as an opportunity to strike again, the FBI’s Fedarcyk said.
The information of a new plot was specific and credible, though not corroborated, she said at a press conference yesterday with Bloomberg.
In the Washington metropolitan area today, Montgomery County, Maryland, police patrolled the Silver Spring and Forest Glen Metro platforms, north of the city.
Extend Shifts
New York police officers will extend their shifts by four hours at least through Sept. 12, said Commissioner Ray Kelly. Police will increase vehicle checks and monitoring of bridges and tunnels, Kelly said. Police will also increase baggage screenings in subways, patrol outside places of worship and government buildings and conduct bomb sweeps of public garages.
“We will deploy quick-reaction teams consisting of heavily armored officers,” Kelly said.
“Sky Watch” towers will be manned, license plate readers monitored and all manhole covers inspected and sealed. City landmarks, including Grand Central Terminal and Pennsylvania Station, will have heightened security as well as other major events Sunday, including the U.S. Open tennis tournament in Queens.
A heavily guarded “frozen zone” is being created from West Street to Broadway and Murray to Albany streets in Lower Manhattan. Several streets in the area will be closed during the weekend, including northbound West Street from Battery Place to Murray Street and southbound West Street from Battery Place to Chambers Street. Church Street between Rector and Barclay streets will be closed 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.
Bomb Technicians
To assist the police, the FBI will mobilize specialized teams, including special agents, bomb technicians and SWAT and hazardous materials crews.
Richard Adamonis, a NYSE Euronext spokesman, declined to comment on security measure for the stock exchange on Wall Street.
President Barack Obama, who is scheduled to attend ceremonies at Ground Zero on Sept. 11 with former President George W. Bush, was briefed on the threat today by National Security Adviser Tom Donilon, White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan, and Deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough before leaving for a speech in Richmond, Virginia, White House press secretary Jay Carney said.
Obama directed counter-terrorism officials to redouble their efforts, which had already been increased in advance of the Sept. 11 anniversary, Carney said.
The first intelligence official said the report is credible largely because of al-Qaeda’s longstanding interest in important anniversaries and symbolic targets.
Intense Focus
“Sometimes this reporting is credible and warrants intense focus,” Matt Chandler, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesman, said in a statement. “Other times it lacks credibility and is highly unlikely to be reflective of real plots under way.”
“Regardless, we take all threat reporting seriously, and we have taken, and will continue to take all steps necessary to mitigate any threats that arise,” Chandler said.
Attorney General Eric Holder said in May that intelligence retrieved from the compound in Pakistan where bin Laden was killed suggested that he wanted to harm people around the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
The mayor is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP.
To contact the reporters on this story: Henry Goldman in New York at hgoldman@bloomberg.net; Tiffany Kary in Brooklyn at tkary@bloomberg.net; Patricia Hurtado in New York pathurado@bloomberg.net.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-09/-credible-terrorist-threats-received-new-york-mayor-bloomberg-says.html
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Mark Tannenbaum at mtannen@bloomberg.net; Michael Hytha mhytha@bloomberg.net
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