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Bloomberg Takes Latest Alert Seriously: No Salt

Bloomberg Takes Latest Alert Seriously: No Salt
By JENNIFER STEINHAUER, August 4, 2004

Since the day Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg took office, his responses to numerous federal warnings about possible terrorist attacks have been almost identical. Without exactly being dismissive, he has told New Yorkers to leave security concerns “to the professionals,” and then promptly cantered around the city, from the theater district to wide-open lunch counters to Knicks games, spreading the word that the city is safe and open for business.

This week, however, while continuing his breakneck tours of the five boroughs, Mr. Bloomberg has taken a slightly different tack, viewing the latest alert issued by the Department of Homeland Security in a very sober light. During a television interview yesterday, the mayor said, “Every day in a very dangerous world is a challenge.”

Further, while the Bloomberg administration has been deeply annoyed by Cassandra- like warnings issued from Washington over the last few years, it appears to have seized on this particular augury as both far more credible and serious — and also something that gives the mayor a political opportunity to show his resolve in keeping the city safe.

While none of his aides want to speak on the record about possibly deriving political advantage from a terrorist threat, several said yesterday that they felt that the constant images and reports of the mayor’s ringing the bell of the New York Stock Exchange, taking the subway, and racing from the Citigroup building to the reopening of the Statue of Liberty to police precincts have left a good impression on many rattled New Yorkers.

Various political analysts echo the view. “I think it helps him,” said William B. Eimicke, a professor of public administration at Columbia University. “This was a role that I thought he would play very poorly because he is so understated and does not play well interacting with people. But I think he comes across really great. He projects the same kind of courage of the average person in New York who, despite the warnings, went to work this week and did their jobs.”

In the past, the vague alerts issued by Washington may have hurt tourism and other businesses, but they did not necessarily resonate politically, at least locally. For instance, when a plot to blow up the Brooklyn Bridge was uncovered — a plan foiled in part by anticipatory police actions — the story got far less play than this week’s terror warning. But should the city weather the latest threat, the mayor and his police commissioner will most likely get some of the credit, particularly given the Police Department’s heavy focus recently on terrorism.

“There are rare instances where we actually learned later what we put in place deterred an attack,” said one police official, in describing the city’s success on the antiterror front.

But the recent terror threats also put the mayor in some potentially dangerous crosscurrents.

On the one hand, Mr. Bloomberg was able to bask in the bright lights of national television yesterday while standing next to the homeland security secretary, Tom Ridge (while Mr. Ridge had to tackle all the difficult questions from the press about what the government knew when about the threats).

But the event also made the mayor appear in line with the Bush administration — which is viewed skeptically by many New Yorkers — at a time when people are questioning whether the terror warnings are designed to help the president’s re-election efforts.

And while New Yorkers have gotten used to seeing police officers with large machine guns standing sentry around their city and may indeed be comforted by the sight, the increased focus on the police also gives fresh ammunition to unions representing uniformed workers seeking to embarrass the mayor over salary and other labor issues.

The newest threat also gave Mr. Bloomberg more clout to push Washington to give the city more antiterrorism money. But it also reminds New Yorkers that a so-called National Security Event — the Republican National Convention — is only weeks away, which some could interpret as providing another tempting target for terrorists.

“I believe the political risks are to be identified too closely with the Republican Party in a Democratic city,” said George Arzt, a New York political consultant.

Edward Skyler, the mayor’s press secretary, sniffed at the idea that the presence of the Republican National Convention in New York would endanger the city, and suggested that New Yorkers shared his view. “What is the alternative?” Mr. Skyler said. “Shutting down? Should we tell the Yankees and the Mets not to get into the World Series? Should we tell the Knicks not to make the playoffs? I don’t think New Yorkers would like us to go in that direction.”

Yesterday, Mr. Bloomberg continued to seek a balance between showing resolve against a potential threat to the city and assuring people that they should live their lives normally. He held a news conference at the Citigroup building, the same spot where he once held an impromptu lunchtime event right after the start of the Iraq war, against his security detail’s advice given the open-air nature of the space.

“Given what’s going on in the last few days,” he said during the reopening of the Statue of Liberty, “what the press has been covering, I suppose it’s a reasonable question to ask why we didn’t just cancel a highprofile event like this. But I think to stay home and lock our doors is exactly what the terrorists would want. And I think there is nothing we can do that is more appropriate than to have a ceremony like this. What we are really saying to the rest of the world, this is America, and America is strong, and Americans value their freedom.”

posted by amanda @ 3:25 PM