NYC Subway Terror Threat?

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CNN going bananas about some kind of "credible threat" to NYC subways ... wtf?

― rasheed wallace (rasheed wallace), Thursday, 6 October 2005 20:27 (twenty years ago)

anything more specific? like, "yancey, don't take the 6 train tonight?"

― Jams Murphy (ystrickler), Thursday, 6 October 2005 20:35 (twenty years ago)

http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/transportation/nyc-subthreat,0,3072785,print.story?coll=nyc-homepage-breakingheadlines

― Jams Murphy (ystrickler), Thursday, 6 October 2005 20:35 (twenty years ago)

SHIT

― PappaWheelie B.C., Thursday, 6 October 2005 20:36 (twenty years ago)

hmm... maybe I'll take cabs this weekend.

― Super Cub (Debito), Thursday, 6 October 2005 20:48 (twenty years ago)

Shit, I'm going home on the subway.

― Laura H. (laurah), Thursday, 6 October 2005 20:50 (twenty years ago)

What I've seen so far: "credible" information obtained during arrest of terror suspects, "specific to time, place, and method" -- bombing in NYC subway using briefcases. Not sure how "specific" we're talking, though, time-wise -- so far media hasn't been good on whether this is an immediate right-about-now threat or a general security lockdown for the general time being. Either way, I'm guessing I'm gonna have a fun bag search and Times Square transfer during the next hour.

― nabisco (nabisco), Thursday, 6 October 2005 20:55 (twenty years ago)

specific as to time, place and method

but it's "classified"

no arrests made

go about your business

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Thursday, 6 October 2005 20:56 (twenty years ago)

Did anyone else hear that comment about certain individuals being "resolved"? Fuck is up with that?

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 6 October 2005 20:56 (twenty years ago)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4317758.stm

― Last Of The Famous International Pfunkboys (Kerr), Thursday, 6 October 2005 20:56 (twenty years ago)

Laura, CHILL!

― Jonothong Williamsmang (ex machina), Thursday, 6 October 2005 20:57 (twenty years ago)

not specific to briefcases

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Thursday, 6 October 2005 20:57 (twenty years ago)

More bits, believe / disbelieve as you're inclined:

- threat is for the "next few days"
- involves briefcases and strollers, public is asked to "minimize use" of these items???
- security has been ramping up for "past few days"
- thread conveyed by FBI today

(Those last two seem contradictory; I think maybe the past-few-days rampup was just for the holidays?)

Info seems patchy enough at this point that it's kinda just whatever.

― nabisco (nabisco), Thursday, 6 October 2005 21:00 (twenty years ago)

yeah, tra la la, thanks for not telling us the TIME, boss!!

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Thursday, 6 October 2005 21:02 (twenty years ago)

any numerological predictions? 9/11, 7/7, etc.. 10/10?

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Thursday, 6 October 2005 21:02 (twenty years ago)

Support for GOP plummeting = CODE RED DANGER DANGER TERROR! TERROR!!!

― andy --, Thursday, 6 October 2005 21:04 (twenty years ago)

T/S Internet cynicism vs. getting home alive

― PappaWheelie B.C., Thursday, 6 October 2005 21:05 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, I like their rather relative use of the word "specific."

― nabisco (nabisco), Thursday, 6 October 2005 21:05 (twenty years ago)

search the babies! search the babies!

― Super Cub (Debito), Thursday, 6 October 2005 21:07 (twenty years ago)

- involves briefcases and strollers, public is asked to "minimize use" of these items???

Yeah, that'll be simple.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 6 October 2005 21:07 (twenty years ago)

i don't think it's relative at all, or at least that's not the impression i got from the press conference. the impression i got was that they just wouldn't say.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Thursday, 6 October 2005 21:07 (twenty years ago)

If you don't ride a subway with random stray briefcases laying about it means the terrorists have won!

― andy --, Thursday, 6 October 2005 21:07 (twenty years ago)

LET'S PANIC EVERYBODY! THAT WILL BE REALLY HELPFUL.

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 6 October 2005 21:08 (twenty years ago)

Sky news reporting that a media outlet has known of this threat for several days but didnt report it.
If true does that mean they didnt think the threat was credible til now?

― Last Of The Famous International Pfunkboys (Kerr), Thursday, 6 October 2005 21:08 (twenty years ago)

And yeah, something feels cheap about making GOP-support jokes when this actually means a crappy ride home. Not that you shouldn't go ahead and do it, but from this end it's a little, you know, ha. Thankfully there's nothing embarrassing in my bag today.

I haven't seen the press conference, Tracer, just checked in on news sources -- it seemed like they had it precisely pegged? Like day-and-time, place-in-the-city pegged?

― nabisco (nabisco), Thursday, 6 October 2005 21:09 (twenty years ago)

Suit case nukes

― feminazi (feminazi), Thursday, 6 October 2005 21:09 (twenty years ago)

babies sitting in strollers with briefcases = sketchy as hell

― Super Cub (Debito), Thursday, 6 October 2005 21:09 (twenty years ago)

I'M GOING TO BRING MY 10 INCH DEEP SILVER EQUIPMENT CASE THAT LOCKS WITH ME EVERYWHERE AND FORGET THE KEY

― Jonothong Williamsmang (ex machina), Thursday, 6 October 2005 21:10 (twenty years ago)

Today on the radio there was a lot of talk about Bush's popularity dropping, and Democratic Senators actually speaking out against continued involvement in Iraq, and Bush's "No, really, listen they are trying to build a radical Islamic empire, no REALLY I MEAN IT" speeches, and about how the US public is considerably more skeptical of the "Vote Republican, we'll keep you safe!" party line after Katrina.

And so I'm trying very VERY hard not to take this well-timed and very vague and very general (some time some one somewhere in NY with a STROLLER or a BRIEF CASE might possibly be dangerous maybe) threat of terrorism in NY as some sort of truly evil political move.

xpost: Yeah what you people said while I was writing this.

― pullapartgirl (pullapartgirl), Thursday, 6 October 2005 21:10 (twenty years ago)

somehow i believe this more, andy, since it's not homeland security saying it. although HS's reputation may have become so damaged by katrina that some horseshit may have been fed to NYPD people (from the FBI? they are also involved). i really wouldn't put it past them!

xpost - yes, nabisco.

xxpost: no, the city/FBI asked them to keep it under their hats, and they did.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Thursday, 6 October 2005 21:10 (twenty years ago)

ihttp://www.terranova.net/content/images/nuke-the-limit.jpg

― feminazi (feminazi), Thursday, 6 October 2005 21:11 (twenty years ago)

Also, I am honestly sorry for the shitty commute some of you are facing.

― pullapartgirl (pullapartgirl), Thursday, 6 October 2005 21:11 (twenty years ago)

http://www.nephandus.com/socialstudies/nuke-home-blast.jpg

― feminazi (feminazi), Thursday, 6 October 2005 21:12 (twenty years ago)

I can only assume this is based on real intelligence. Is the intelligence creditable? Who knows...

― Super Cub (Debito), Thursday, 6 October 2005 21:12 (twenty years ago)

I don't think anyone's panicking, Stencil (except for a couple of my coworkers who just took off). I mostly get grumpy about these things because even in the best-case turnout they screw up travel and timing and just make a logistical mess out of stuff. Which is better than the alternative, you know, but I like to know about it in advance.

― nabisco (nabisco), Thursday, 6 October 2005 21:12 (twenty years ago)

When do I get terror sex?

― Jonothong Williamsmang (ex machina), Thursday, 6 October 2005 21:13 (twenty years ago)

when you meet that girl on the bus who's entranced by your shiny suitcase

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Thursday, 6 October 2005 21:13 (twenty years ago)

I think part of the reason for broadcasting these things is to deter the terrorists.

1. Raise public awareness
2. Deter terrorists
3. Maybe get some political advantage

― Super Cub (Debito), Thursday, 6 October 2005 21:13 (twenty years ago)

The question really boils down to "how many cab rides and for how long?"

― PappaWheelie B.C., Thursday, 6 October 2005 21:14 (twenty years ago)

on craigslist! xpost

― Jonothong Williamsmang (ex machina), Thursday, 6 October 2005 21:14 (twenty years ago)

I might take cabs this weekend. But maybe I'll get over it and take the subway.

― Super Cub (Debito), Thursday, 6 October 2005 21:15 (twenty years ago)

The NYPD doesn't question terror suspects extensively, the FBI does which is a federal agency. Therefore, I suspect that any "credible threat" alert was generated by the Feds, not the local city govt.

So yes, I am a bit cynical I suppose. If the robots demolish an explosive-laden stroller, I'll eat my cynical words.

― andy --, Thursday, 6 October 2005 21:15 (twenty years ago)

Laura, CHILL!

-- Jonothong Williamsmang (SUCCUM...) (webmail), October 6th, 2005 5:57 PM. (ex machina))

I'm not not chilling. I'm just mildly disconcerted. You're the one typing in caps.

― Laura H. (laurah), Thursday, 6 October 2005 21:15 (twenty years ago)

I got, totally third-hand and before this was public, that there was concern about Grand Central or Union Square (in between?).

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Thursday, 6 October 2005 21:16 (twenty years ago)

The NYPD has intelligence operations as well. There are NYPD detectives stationed all over the world for terrorism intelligence gathering.

― Super Cub (Debito), Thursday, 6 October 2005 21:16 (twenty years ago)

When do I get terror sex?

-- Jonothong Williamsmang (SUCCUM...)

Make one myspace bulletin.

― Laura H. (laurah), Thursday, 6 October 2005 21:17 (twenty years ago)

Gotta wait for the blackout and the local bars get rid of their beir because of no refridgeration and the hoes get druuuunnnnkkkkk

big xpost

― Jimmy Mod wants you to tighten the strings on your corset (The Famous Jimmy Mod), Thursday, 6 October 2005 21:17 (twenty years ago)

Avian Flu Bomb!

― Jonothong Williamsmang (ex machina), Thursday, 6 October 2005 21:17 (twenty years ago)

c'mon people, this is like the 3,764th time they've pulled this shit.

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 6 October 2005 21:18 (twenty years ago)

explosives packed into the rectums of BSE cows!

― Super Cub (Debito), Thursday, 6 October 2005 21:18 (twenty years ago)

Skipping 82 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

uh, muslims don't go to bed early on ramadan. they can only eat after sundown then!

― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 7 October 2005 15:54 (twenty years ago)

food coma

― rasheed wallace (rasheed wallace), Friday, 7 October 2005 16:01 (twenty years ago)

So much for the distraction from Rove

― donut hallivallerieburtonelli omg lol (donut), Friday, 7 October 2005 16:02 (twenty years ago)

Something weirds me out about the discussion here. It's not as if we have to choose between dismissive cynicism and all-out panic -- it's not hard to be interested in this stuff but not jumping out of your skin.

For what it's worth, this is probably the most amped-up or specific-seeming terror alert I've noticed in my two years here -- though it may just have penetrated my consciousness more due to people at work going weirdly nuts. The last few I remember were all based more on "chatter" type info, or the classic "they just tried to bomb London again, so we're going to ramp up security just to make you feel better for the week or two that it's still on your mind."

I noticed absolutely no additional security during the commute home yesterday -- still the bizarre one-cup allotment for the Times Square 1/9 uptown platform, which seems like not enough even to deal with non-terrorist stuff. (If you even had, like, two jackasses getting into a fight during rush hour, you'd probably wind up with a dozen people falling on the tracks.) On the other hand, this German dude stared at me like a motherfucker the whole ride home, with particular attention to decoding the DFA pin on my bag. (Death For America? Doin'it For Al-Qaeda? Dangerous Foreigner Alert!)

― nabiscothingy, Friday, 7 October 2005 16:27 (twenty years ago)

just stare back dood. Brick city.

― Jimmy Mod wants you to tighten the strings on your corset (The Famous Jimmy Mod), Friday, 7 October 2005 16:29 (twenty years ago)

I always start thinking about doing mean stuff like letting my headphone cord dangle from my bag and closing my eyes and moving my lips silently. But that would be mean to the other passengers.

― nabiscothingy, Friday, 7 October 2005 16:31 (twenty years ago)

seriously. get bubble gum and when someone starts staring at you, pop bubbles in his direction.

― Jimmy Mod wants you to tighten the strings on your corset (The Famous Jimmy Mod), Friday, 7 October 2005 16:32 (twenty years ago)

"Bubbly soda can sets off alert at Penn Station" - CNN

I'm quite convinced the domestic bus/train bombings will start in NYC. And America will pretend to care til they remember they hate us.

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Friday, 7 October 2005 16:33 (twenty years ago)

i have to say that i am decidedly non-cynical about the warnings, because it's only a matter of time before these smaller acts of violence start being perpetuated here. and call me naive, but i do trust bloomberg/the local govt a helluva lot more than any other power figures because -- more than anything -- THEY LIVE HERE TOO.

― Jams Murphy (ystrickler), Friday, 7 October 2005 16:40 (twenty years ago)

i mean, it's not like every other city where the rich white folx live in the super-burbs. while the powers that be might cab/limo it, they don't want their property values to plummet

― Jams Murphy (ystrickler), Friday, 7 October 2005 16:42 (twenty years ago)

I think it's good sense to (almost) ALWAYS trust your local government before the feds anyway, in case of an emergency, no matter who's president.

(I put "(almost)" there in case one lives in a city with a very corrupt government, which isn't uncommon.)

― donut hallivallerieburtonelli omg lol (donut), Friday, 7 October 2005 16:58 (twenty years ago)

my biggest terrorism... umm... i don't know what to call it... prognostication? is that they (you know, they) will set off bombs in those very super-burbs. imagine a coordinated attack of say, 15 suicide bombers in random neighborhoods, schools, kids' baseball games, grocery stores, gas stations, etc... to me, that's terror... it doesn't have to be a lot of people that die, just the notion that it could happen anywhere, any time. but til then, hope all is well for you new yorkers... nobody i know there seems that concerned, but, y'know...

― firstworldman (firstworldman), Friday, 7 October 2005 16:58 (twenty years ago)

So Bush has gone out of his way to explain that the feds DID NOT call the alarm, they just notified NYC and even told them it was questionable, and that it was NYC that decided to call alarm. My first thought was, the White House must be reading our conspiracy theories here on this thread! Why else would they make such a stern point that they did not call for the alarm? Seems the few posters who mentioned the coincedence above were obv not the only ones:

http://dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/10/7/141538/435

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Friday, 7 October 2005 18:12 (twenty years ago)

what's the deal with the washington monument being evacuated? Just heard it in passing but not near a TV. Nothing on the Net that I can see.

― Wiggy (Wiggy), Friday, 7 October 2005 18:29 (twenty years ago)

The policeman CNN was interviewing about it was named "Sgt. Fear"

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Friday, 7 October 2005 18:34 (twenty years ago)

sorry to keep updating this but you have to read the latest on AP. It's basically saying "hey look, this threat is real, we just arrested some guy who was ON HIS WAY to bomb NY. NYC knows what they're doing and the feds are full of it."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051007/ap_on_re_us/nyc_subway

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Friday, 7 October 2005 20:14 (twenty years ago)

Yes, because its easy for arabs from iraq to get into the united states!

― Jonothong Williamsmang (ex machina), Friday, 7 October 2005 20:16 (twenty years ago)

no, it doesn't say that. it says that they arrested some dude in Iraq, and that some other dude in Afghanistan said that yet there was yet another dude who was going to NY. however, they have no idea if yet-another-dude even exists. (xpost)

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Friday, 7 October 2005 20:19 (twenty years ago)

(as an aside: is anyone's cell service out?)

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Friday, 7 October 2005 20:19 (twenty years ago)

If they didn't think it was a viable threat, they wouldn't have done anything about it, that's sort of the whole point.

Those arrested had received explosives training in Afghanistan, a law enforcement official said Friday. They had planned to travel through Syria to New York, and then meet with an unspecified number of operatives to carry out the bombings. The official said that the threat was "specific to place," and that the window for the attack was anywhere from Friday through at least the weekend.

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Friday, 7 October 2005 20:21 (twenty years ago)

this is some kinda seriously crackerjack informant!

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Friday, 7 October 2005 20:24 (twenty years ago)

yeah, I mean I do take this one quasi-seriously, but they had to throw Syria in there, didn't they. maybe NYC v. Feds:orange alert::conservatives v. Bush:Miers?

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Friday, 7 October 2005 20:25 (twenty years ago)

has anything actually happened yet? i'm no where near a source of breaking news.

oh wait

― nein Socken (nein Socken), Friday, 7 October 2005 20:29 (twenty years ago)

but what about the Fed. gov saying they couldn't determine the credibility of this?

i mean, this type of information is the gold standard of the spy game. this is what people work for months to either be able to procure, or to be in a position to plant, or... it seems odd that this info could have wended its way all the way to a bloomberg press conference with, it seems, some people saying, well, we don't know if this is leather or naugahyde.

and what is UP with random "alerts" today??? the soda can, the evacuation of the washington monument, now a "suspicious package" that has delayed the 1 and 3 trains.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Friday, 7 October 2005 20:32 (twenty years ago)

Well "increased security" for NYC subways seems to show less in actual officials patrolling things and more in incidents of "we are closing the subway due to an unclaimed Tic-Tac spotted on a V train platform." Which makes sense, since anomalous situations can require little shutdowns (whereas screening people either turns something up or doesn't), and because I'd bet anything that increased terror news results in loads of people calling in "suspicious" stuff that then has to be taken seriously. (Cf a little after 9/11 when a Chicago hazmat team had to come out to investigate a "suspicious substance" that turned out to be a glob of guacamole on the sidewalk.)

― nabiscothingy, Friday, 7 October 2005 20:55 (twenty years ago)

(That was maybe worth it, though, for the entertainment value of watching Daley stand up at a press conference and announce that "guacamole is not dangerous.")

― nabiscothingy, Friday, 7 October 2005 20:58 (twenty years ago)

(Words that will surely come back to haunt him when a mayoral candidate steps up pledging to finally do something about Chicago's out-of-control guacamole-safety crisis.)

― nabiscothingy, Friday, 7 October 2005 21:00 (twenty years ago)

but what about the Fed. gov saying they couldn't determine the credibility of this?

as discussed in the New Yorker article I mentioned upthread, NY's anti-terrorism dept. is miles ahead of the feds, therefore, I trust NYC more than DC.

As far as increased police activity? It's fucking on! I got OUT of the train at the corner of pacific st and 4th Ave in Brooklyn. 4th avenue was completely blocked off with police vans, there were dozens of cops. Reason why the Atlantic Avenue station would be so highly protected? That neighborhood is a)one of the largest middle eastern areas in the city, and b)many express strains go directly to Manhattan over the bridges from there. It's also where the LIRR meets the NY subway(other then Penn Station).

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Friday, 7 October 2005 21:18 (twenty years ago)

another reason, dan: 1997.

― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 7 October 2005 21:19 (twenty years ago)

my subway ride today was surprisingly hassle-free. i didn't see ANY police presence, not even at times square.

― jbr is the value obtained from the leptonic branching ratio measurement and (Jod, Friday, 7 October 2005 22:21 (twenty years ago)

Hoax.

The informant who sparked last week's New York City subway threat alert has admitted it was a hoax, CNN reported Tuesday.

The network reported that the informant admitted providing false information.

The informant had claimed that al-Qaida operatives in Iraq were plotting to attack the city's subways using baby strollers packed with remote-controlled explosives. The reported threat said the attacks could occur as early as last Friday.

Authorities said earlier the interrogation of three suspects arrested by U.S. forces in Iraq has so far produced no information to corroborate a possible threat.

New York City's heightened subway security will slowly scale back to what it was before officials announced the supposed subway bombing threat last week.

New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly stressed that police will continue random bag searches in the subways that began in response to the bombings on the London transit system.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 11 October 2005 14:59 (twenty years ago)

Yes, now I feel justified in being a dick.

Last night I was at a bar and one of my friends was claiming that AQ has 12 Russian nukes in the USA for Ramadan.

― Jonothong Williamsmang (ex machina), Tuesday, 11 October 2005 15:16 (twenty years ago)

a little after 9/11 when a Chicago hazmat team had to come out to investigate a "suspicious substance" that turned out to be a glob of guacamole on the sidewalk.

It was a dirty xpoy bombx

― Jonothong Williamsmang (ex machina), Tuesday, 11 October 2005 15:17 (twenty years ago)

Last night at Victoria station in London I saw two police officers inspect an empty Burger King drink cup left on the floor next to the entrance to the underground. Made me think of the "bubbling green liquid in a soda can" that closed part of Penn station last week.

― James Mitchell (James Mitchell), Tuesday, 11 October 2005 17:02 (twenty years ago)

Isn't it the case that this informant has given something to the effect of 16 bad leads already? Why are they still talking to him at all? I'm not getting it.

― Allyzay knows a little German (allyzay), Tuesday, 11 October 2005 17:09 (twenty years ago)

maybe they know something we don't? maybe they don't want to take the chance?

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Tuesday, 11 October 2005 17:30 (twenty years ago)

>one of my friends was claiming that AQ has 12 Russian nukes in the USA for Ramadan. <

And his source? Absinthe? Freerepublic.com?

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 11 October 2005 17:46 (twenty years ago)

I know! seiroustlyey!!#@24twfe

― Jonothong Williamsmang (ex machina), Tuesday, 11 October 2005 17:49 (twenty years ago)

YOUR MOM! LOL

― Allyzay knows a little German (allyzay), Tuesday, 11 October 2005 17:52 (twenty years ago)

one year passes...

Something's going on, according to the news channel ticker.

― James Mitchell, Wednesday, 27 June 2007 20:11 (eighteen years ago)

http://gothamist.com/2007/06/27/2007_blackout_s.php

― gabbneb, Wednesday, 27 June 2007 20:15 (eighteen years ago)

I think these exploding transformers are a stealthy movie promotion.

― Dr Morbius, Wednesday, 27 June 2007 20:17 (eighteen years ago)

nothing about terrrism in there

― Heave Ho, Wednesday, 27 June 2007 20:17 (eighteen years ago)

There never is.

― James Mitchell, Wednesday, 27 June 2007 20:19 (eighteen years ago)

No, this shd be in the "bitch about New York and its century-old transit infrastructure" thread, you alarmists.

― Dr Morbius, Wednesday, 27 June 2007 20:19 (eighteen years ago)

as if three millimeters of rain doesn't pose enough problems for the subway

― nabisco, Wednesday, 27 June 2007 20:22 (eighteen years ago)

http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=1&aid=71155

― o. nate, Wednesday, 27 June 2007 20:23 (eighteen years ago)

Ah, the old "it's getting too effin' hot on this island for all of us!" story... Doesn't this happen every summer?

― Andi Mags, Wednesday, 27 June 2007 23:46 (eighteen years ago)

There should be a terror plot to blow up the MGM Studios Tower of Terror. That would make for awesome headlines.

― Hurting 2, Wednesday, 27 June 2007 23:51 (eighteen years ago)

it happens every summer because until a transformer blows out, it's simply not cost-effective on the books to replace it. I think xformers are installed with a lot more capacity than necessary at the time to save on future upgrades as the lines and the rest of the grid are adjusted; the entire system is just like any other major feat of engineering in that points-of-failure that are built for the highest degree of reliability are also the points of failure that break in the most catastrophic fashion.

shakey mo could probably say more on the subject, and be more accurate besides

― El Tomboto, Thursday, 28 June 2007 00:25 (eighteen years ago)

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