Homeland Security
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Keeping An Eye On The Big Apple
October 5, 2009 - 9:14 AM | by: Laura IngleToday was the first time cameras were allowed inside the Lower Manhattan Security Command Center in New York City. The high-tech nerve center has been kept under wraps since it opened in November in 2008, but was shown off by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly this morning. In the main room, there is a wall that stretches 40 feet wide and 10 feet tall that is filled with 16 video cubes, that show maps, real time monitors of fixed cameras on the street, and a screen that scrolls through the city's 9-1-1 calls constantly.
Bloomberg and Kelly announced that the City will use approximately 24 million dollars in Homeland Security grants to not only improve the security systems in place, but expand the center to include Midtown Manhattan. A network of security cameras, license plate readers, chemical, biological, and radiological sensors have been in place for the last few years, but now, they are being upgraded with the very latest technology thanks to the new grants. The Midtown Manhattan Security Initiative will include high value targets like the Empire State Building, and Penn Station with the grid encompassing the area between 30th and 60th streets "river to river" (East River to the Hudson River). NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly, says the expansions should be completed by 2011. The goal is to spot terror activity and stop it before it starts, and to steer any potential terrorists away from the City once they see, and hear about the high tech security systems that have been put in place.
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