New WTC Security Chief Announced
The new chief of security for the World Trade Center has been announced as Long Island native Doug Farber, a veteran of the Secret Service who was responsible for internal White House safety, according to an article from the New York Post.
The Port Authority hired Farber to spearhead security a the 16-acre facility, running a military-grade security system that will protect tens of thousands of workers, as well as the streets and train lines running alongside WTC, the article says.
“It’s going to take a community to protect this complex,” Farber, 38, told the Post. “It’s impossible to eliminate threat altogether. But it’s about managing threat.”
Farber was based in New York on 9/11 coordinating Secret Service arrangements for the annual gathering of world leaders at the UN General Assembly that was mere days away, the article says. He raced downtown to help after the planes struck the Twin Towers.
More than 11 years later, he keeps a piece of the towers on a plaque close to his desk as a reminder of what happens when things go wrong in the business of security, intelligence and secret counter-measures, the Post reports.
The problem with managing security at WTC is the delicate overlap of jurisdiction – the NYPD, the Port Authority, City Hall, the governors of New York and New Jersey and the federal government all have a stake in WTC, and it could be difficult to decide who is in charge.
“Doug is going to need to wisdom of Solomon,” says Jan Gilhooly, a former top official with the Secret Service and now a member of the New York-New Jersey Waterfront Commission. “That’s why a lot people (sic) said ‘I don’t want this job. I don’t want to be in the middle of this.’ But Doug is the perfect fit. He’s learned how to navigate and get along with everybody.”
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