Police step up security in NY
2004-08-02 11:12
New York - Police closed several streets in midtown Manhattan and banned trucks from bridges and tunnels leading to Wall Street on Monday following a government warning that terrorists may be planning to strike "iconic" financial institutions.
The warning described possible terrorist attacks against businesses and banks in New York City, Washington, DC, and Newark, New Jersey, saying a confluence of intelligence over the weekend pointed to a car or truck bomb.
"We are deploying our full array of counterterrorism resources," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. "We have ramped up security even further at the named locations as well as at other potential targets."
The government named the Citigroup headquarters and the New York Stock Exchange in New York, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank buildings in Washington, DC, and the Prudential Financial building in Newark as possible targets.
Only workers allowed in
On Sunday, the 59-story Citigroup Centre,which has shops on street level and offices above, closed several internal entrances, allowing only workers to enter, and made the shops accessible only from the streets.
A Citigroup official at the building, the third largest in Midtown, refused to discuss security there. A company e-mail to employees said they should expect to see tighter security at all its New York buildings.
A cashier at a sports store in the Citigroup building, Trisha Brown, said she was spooked by the threat of terrorists. "It's scary and kind of creepy that these people could just walk into the building," she said.
Commuters on Monday faced potential delays. Police in New York rerouted all Manhattan-bound trucks from the Williamsburg Bridge to the Manhattan Bridge in an effort to streamline random vehicle searches.
Trucks and vans also were forbidden to enter the city through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel and the Holland Tunnel.
Police also said they would close streets surrounding Grand Central Station.
In Washington, DC, Metropolitan Police Department Chief Charles H Ramsey said officers on overtime detail would increase patrols and the department will boost the number of checks of vehicles on city roadways.
"We have no plans at this time to totally shut down the area around the World Bank and IMF. But we will be greatly enhancing our presence along with the private security that's already there," he said.
New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said police were advising other large businesses across the city to safeguard their heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.
Bloomberg and Kelly said they would not consider placing the city - at security level orange since the 2001 attacks - at red alert because the recent intelligence did not indicate when the terrorists might try to attack.
The warnings sent ripples of anticipation across the nation with other cities beefing up security as well.
- AP