World Trade Center Site Security Plan Draws Complaints
An extensive police plan to safeguard the rebuilt World Trade Center site against vehicular bomb threats is feeling like "strangulation" to the community around it, according to a report by the Washington Post.
The plan, outlined in a draft document, would create new checkpoints and barriers to ban uninspected vehicles from accessing the 16-acre lower Manhattan site, which includes the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, five new skyscrapers, a performing arts center and a major transportation hub, the article says.
It could take until 2019 to fully implement the plan, which would create a "standoff perimeter" around the site to minimize danger of collapsing buildings, institute a trusted access program for taxis, residents and delivery vans, and create a vehicular security center controlling access to the site's underground traffic network of loading docks and parking areas, according to the Washington Post.
Local residents, however, have concerns about the plan stifling the growing community and complicating traffic.
Kathleen Moore, who lives a block across the street from 4 World Trade Center, worries that ambulances will not be able to access her building, the article says. "I understand all the reasons why this has to be done," she said. "But it feels like a strangulation to all of us who live here."
New York Police Department Commissioner Raymond Kelly said that the department wants to hear from residents, and public comments on the document can be submitted to the NYPD until 5 p.m. on March 26, the article reports.
"I know there are some concerns from the people who live in that area," he told reporters. "We want to work it out. Obviously, we don't want to unnecessarily inconvenience anybody."
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