Manhattan Chowder, Back in the Big Apple

Have a Nice Day!

Yesterday the NYPD revealed with much fanfare something called Operation TORCH. It is supposed to act as a deterrent for would-be terrorists and involves teams of riot police armed with automatic weapons and bomb-sniffing dogs who will be situated in various subway stations throughout the city. What a welcome sight for a sleepy morning commuter on his way to work.

The team (or teams) will be deployed to different subway stations every day. So, you may see them one day and gone the next. But I'm not sure their presence would make me feel any safer. In fact, it might make me feel less safe, as if the reason I'm seeing them is because an attack is imminent. I'm all for protecting the subway system, but there has to be a less in-your-face way to do it.

Besides that, the fact of the matter is that if someone is bound and determined to bomb the subway system they are going to do it, Operation TORCH or no. With the teams in different stations everyday, don't they think a would-be terrorist would find out where they are on the given day of a planned attack and just enter the system at another station? Then all they have to do is ride into Times Square and pull the trigger, light the fuse, pull the pin, or whatever one does to set off a bomb. I suppose I shouldn't complain about this new means of security--maybe it will deter attacks. Who knows? But I can't help seeing it as just another depressing sign of the times in which we live.

Labels: Current Events, Only In New York

posted by Michael @ 1:54 PM