NYPD Increases Policing After Subway Plot Report
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Commuters will likely see extra security Friday after Iraq's prime minister said captured Islamic State militants disclosed a plot to attack U.S. and Paris subways, but officials said there was no specific, credible threat currently to the city's subway system.
Bag inspections were being set up at some subway stations, more bomb-sniffing dogs and surveillance teams were deployed and officers were working overtime and doing extra checks of subway stations, Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said.
Extra heavily armed NYPD Hercules teams have also been deployed across all five boroughs.
NYPD Increases Policing After Subway Plot Report
But Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo both took trains themselves Thursday to send a message of watchful safety and after years of reports of potential terror threats.
"The people of this city have an important role to play," de Blasio said. "The phrase, 'when you see something, say something' is not an empty phrase. It is real."
WATCH: Mayor de Blasio, Commissioner Bratton Address Terror Concerns
While security throughout the city and its transit system already was heightened for the United Nations General Assembly meeting, more officers are being deployed while law enforcement assesses what Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi told journalists Thursday.
When asked if the attacks were imminent, al-Abadi said, "I'm not sure." Asked if the attacks had been thwarted, he said, "No, it has not been disrupted yet— this is a network."
Al-Abadi said the United States had been alerted. He declined to give the location in the U.S. where such an attack might occur. French and American officials said they had no such information.
"We have received information which, in the eyes of the United States government and the NYPD, is not verified. So what we're doing is taking precautions until we have more information,'' de Blasio said at a news conference after he and Bratton rode the subway.
"At this time, the people of this city should feel very comfortable and secure moving through the subways," Bratton said.
A couple of hours earlier, Cuomo took a different train with the head of the transit system.
Conn. Gov. Malloy Steps Up Rail Security
Cuomo and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Wednesday announced increased security across their states, citing increased activity by terrorist groups overseas.
More uniformed officers are being added at transit hubs and on trains and security is being heightened at the area's bridges, tunnels and ports, the governors said.
"New York is more prepared than it has ever been,'' Cuomo said Thursday after hopping off a subway under Penn Station.
In Connecticut, Gov. Dannel Malloy is also stepping up security on Metro-North and Amtrak lines.
Rep. Peter King, a member of the Homeland Security Commission, said he has not seen evidence of an imminent threat against the United States.
"I have been aware that there are plots that ISIS is planning overseas against other countries," King said. "Quite honestly, I have not been advised of this — and I have been checking this out. I don't believe that the U.S. government has been advised of an imminent plot."
He added that anything involving ISIS is "taken seriously" and said there is "absolutely no evidence at all that there's any validity to what the prime minister said."
The head of the FBI's New York office says the agency is working with partners in the law enforcement and intelligence communities to assess the validity of the alleged threat.
George Venizelos said Thursday that the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force and the NYPD remain committed to protecting New York City.
John Miller, the NYPD's top counterterror official, also said Thursday that New York City normally operates at a heightened level of security. He said adjustments are made daily as the department receives and evaluates information.
About 5.5 million daily passengers take city subways and New Yorkers have experienced many warnings of possible terror plots since the Sept. 11 attacks. Subway rider Mike Connell said he felt comfortable with the steps officials were taking.
"This is the No. 1 target in the world, so we're going to up the ante here,'' he said, but authorities "are on it.''
A sense of heightened fear has become a new norm for New Yorkers, said Candace Brito, a 29-year-old nurse, as she waited for a train.
Still, recent events surrounding the Islamic State militants have raised her concerns further.
"I don't know how safe we are, to be honest with you,'' she said.
Other riders took the news in stride.
"If you have fear in New York, it's not a great place to live,'' said Sean Grissom, who has played cello in the subway system for years. "I am cautious. --- But you have to go about your life.''
Check Out These Other Stories From CBSNewYork.com:
(TM and © Copyright 2014 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2014 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
