New York, New Jersey, Connecticut News: security

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Monday, 17 September 2012

Security ramped up at synagogues, temples

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Monday is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, and security has been ramped up at temples and synagogues across the New York area.

Extra police officers will be standing guard as the heightened tensions throughout the mideast add an extra layer of urgency to security precautions.

Anger over an anti-Islamic film has sparked violent protests throughout the Muslim world, and harsh threats between Israel and Iran over Iran's nuclear program also increase the potential for an attack on Jewish temples in the city.

There's been a visible police presence outside houses of worship even before the Jewish new year celebrations began Sunday night.

They will continue through Rosh Hashanah into next week, when the high holy day of Yom Kippur is observed.

Similar precautions are being taken by police throughout the Tri-State area.

"We're also working with the local, state and federal authorities, including the terrorist task force and Homeland Security on a daily basis to evaluate threats to the community," Nassau County police commissioner Thomas Dale said.

Public schools are closed Monday and Tuesday to celebrate the new year. The holiday commemorates the creation of the world, which this year reached the age of 5,773, according to the Jewish calendar.

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new york city, new york news, anthony johnson

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Wednesday, 12 September 2012

Smuggling bust at JFK raises security concerns

NEW YORK (WABC) -- More than a dozen workers at John F. Kennedy International Airport are under arrest in what investigators say was a multi-million dollar liquor smuggling ring.

Fifteen food service workers and three security guards were taken into custody.

The mission to bust them was called Operation Last Call, and it exposed a serious lapse in security at the airport. All the suspects had access to the tarmacs and to the planes.

The suspectss are alleged to have worked together for years in a liquor smuggling ring that stole $20 million in alcohol from American Airline planes at JFK.

The Port Authority Inspector General says a former Sky Chef worker was the head of the operation, storing tens of thousands of the stolen mini bottles of alcohol in his house before selling them to bodegas.

Perhaps most disturbing is the arrest of three private security guards who controlled access to the planes, but allegedly sold out their trust and looked the other way in exchange for some of the stolen liquor.

The IG's office says Sky Chef food service workers swiped 7,500 bottles off American Airlines planes daily. That 18 JFK security-vetted workers are now under arrest raises serious questions about what else workers might be smuggling off, or more worrisome, on to planes.

American Airlines said in a statement that they are working closely with authorities in this ongoing investigation.

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new york city, queens, jfk international airport, new york news, jim hoffer

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Monday, 10 September 2012

NYPD ramps security ahead of 9/11 anniversary

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Tuesday marks the eleventh anniversary of the September 11th attacks, and even though there is already visible heightened security throughout New York City, authorities are actually on the lookout for a different kind of threat.

There are no particular threats from any major terrorist organization, but the NYPD is taking security very seriously, particularly after new warnings about a possible lone wolf assault.

ABC News has obtained a law enforcement bulletin packed with the familiar warnings. But this year, there is no high alert. That's because there is less al-Qaida chatter, unlike last year, because the organization has less of a command structure holding it together.

"Twenty-three of the top 30 al-Qaida commanders are off the field, either dead or captured, in the two to three to four years," said Michael Breen, of the Truman National Security Project. "So this has been a pretty tough series of months and years for al-Qaida."

Authorities aren't underestimating the lone wolf threat. The Times Square bomber is just one example. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly says the NYPD will be ready.

"We'll have our standard counter-terrorism overlay," he said. "You know, we have a special unit assigned to security of the memorial, so we feel that we're doing everything appropriate to secure it."

The NYPD is also going to incorporate social media into their 9/11 remembrances. People will be able to go to Facebook to learn more about the members of the NYPD who were killed at the site in 2001.

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new york city, world trade center, september 11, nypd, new york news, anthony johnson

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Wednesday, 2 May 2012

New York beefs up security for bin Laden anniversary

Eyewitness NewsWASHINGTON (WABC) -- The NYPD is beefing up security at all key transportation hubs in New York City in response to reports of potential threats one year after raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

There is no specific threat, but law enforcement officials are acting out of an abundance of caution. More than 200 officers from local, state and federal agencies will sweep the city's major subway hubs, including Penn Station, Port Authority, Grand Central and Times Square.

Armed with heavy weapons, radiation detectors and bomb-sniffing dogs, they will walk through the stations, platforms and on individual trains, looking for suspicious activity.

"No information, certainly nothing directed at New York as far as we're concerned," NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly said. "But we're alert and we're vigilant."

There is also increased security at overseas airports, as officials worry terrorists might try to blow up U.S.-bound flights.

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Saturday, 28 April 2012

Baby security breach closes Newark terminal

SAMANTHA HENRYNEWARK -- A terminal at Newark Liberty International Airport was shut down for over an hour Friday after officials discovered that a baby hadn't been properly screened, Transportation Security Administration officials said.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport, described the incident as a security breach that occurred at around 1:15 p.m. at a security checkpoint. Terminal C was evacuated and passengers had to go through security screening again.

TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said a mother and baby went through a metal detector when the machine sounded an alarm. The mother handed the child to the father, who had already been screened. The mother was cleared, but the baby hadn't been properly screened. The parents and baby left the checkpoint and headed to their gate, Farbstein said.

TSA officers searched for the family in the secure area of the terminal and notified Port Authority police as per protocol, but they emphasized that it was a low-risk situation, Farbstein said.

A TSA official said they had explained the circumstances of the breach to the Port Authority police and recommended against evacuating the terminal since it was a low-risk situation.

Steve Coleman, a Port Authority spokesman, said that it took the TSA more than 30 minutes to notify police of the lapse and that officers "took immediate action to make sure the breach did not endanger passengers or our facility."

"We're not going to second-guess a real-time decision made by our police department to err on the side of caution and protect passenger safety," he said.

The terminal and checkpoint were closed from 1:30 p.m. to 2:50 p.m.

Passenger Jennifer Pallanich said she was on a Houston-bound flight scheduled to depart at about 2 p.m. and boarding had been completed, but because of the breach, the passengers had to evacuate and go through security screening again.

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Wednesday, 11 January 2012

Beyonce baby controversy over security, reported $1.3M floor rental addressed by hospital

The New York hospital where Beyonce recently welcomed baby daughter Blue Ivy denies reports that said her and rapper husband Jay-Z rented out an entire maternity floor for $1.3 million and had their own bodyguards take control of security in the area.

"Lenox Hill Hospital and its staff were delighted to welcome the Carter family for the birth of their firstborn on Saturday evening, but we are troubled by the misinformation being circulated in some news media reports," the medical center's executive director, Frank Danza said in a statement obtained by OnTheRedCarpet.com.

The New York Daily News quoted "staffers" from the hospital as saying that Beyonce and Jay-Z spent $1.3 million to "seal off and redecorate a wing at the upper East Side hospital, in a super-strict effort to protect their privacy."

"The suggestion that the couple paid $1.3 million to rent an entire maternity floor is simply not true," Danza said. "The family is housed in an executive suite at the hospital and is being billed the standard rate for those accommodations. Our executive suites are available for any patient, including the food service and amenities provided to the Carter family."

A Lenox Hill Hospital spokesperson had no immediate comment on Tuesday, January 10, as to what is the facility's standard rate for an executive suite.

A Brooklyn man named Neil Coulon told the New York Daily News that the couple's security guards repeatedly barred him and his relatives from entering a neonatal intensive care unit, where his wife had delivered two premature baby girls, "just because they wanted to use the hallway."

"The family does have its own security detail on site," Danza said in his statement. "However, the hospital has been and continues to be in control of managing all security at the facility."

"We have made every effort to ensure minimal disruption to other families experiencing the births of their own children over the past three days," he said. "No security plan that we or the Carters' security team put in place would have prevented or delayed families from gaining access to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), and to date, no families have complained to the hospital about being denied access to the NICU.

The medical center's reps had also said no formal complaints were filed. Beyonce, 30, and Jay-Z, who is 42 and whose real name is Shawn Carter, have not commented about the reports. The couple left the hospital with their baby girl early on Tuesday, People magazine reported.

On Monday, Jay-Z recently released a new song, "Glory," which is about his newborn daughter. Blue Ivy is his first child with Beyonce, whom he married in 2008. The track, "Glory," makes reference to a miscarriage his wife had prior to the birth.

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Tuesday, 10 January 2012

Questions over security for Jay Z and Beyonce baby birth

NEW YORK -- Through a rap verse, Jay-Z has confirmed the birth of "the most beautiful" girl in the world - his newborn daughter.

The song "Glory" made its debut on his social website Life and Times on Monday - two days after he and Beyonce reportedly gave birth to a daughter, Blue Ivy.

Reps for the superstars repeatedly declined requests for comment from The Associated Press about whether the birth had occurred, as first reported by E! News over the weekend. But Jay-Z's sweet song gives fans the details, and more: "You're my child with a child from Destiny's Child."

In the song, Jay-Z talks about where the child was conceived (in Paris) and even reveals that Beyonce had a miscarriage at one point.

"Last time the miscarriage was so tragic/We was afraid you'd disappear/But nah baby you magic."

The song's refrain is: "The most amazing feeling I feel/Words can't describe what I'm feeling for real/ Maybe I paint the sky blue/My greatest creation was you. You. Glory."

The sound of a baby's cries - perhaps Blue's - ends the song.

The song says it features "B.I.C." - which would be the initials of Blue Ivy Carter.

It's the first child for the power couple, who wed in 2008 in a private ceremony after a years-long courtship. Beyonce announced her pregnancy to the world last August at the MTV Video Music Awards with a simple rub of her swollen belly.

Celebs close to the couple have tweeted congrats. Beyonce's sister, Solange Knowles, tweeted Sunday morning: "The most beautiful girl in the world," while Beyonce's close friend Gwyneth Paltrow also tweeted: "Welcome to the world Blue! We love you already."

The couple reportedly gave birth at Lenox Hill Hospital on New York's Upper East Side on Saturday. While there were reports that the couple paid $1.4 million to rent a floor of the hospital for the birth, hospital spokeswoman Barbara Osborne said Monday that "no patient has the ability to reserve an entire floor of the hospital."

While she refused to confirm or deny that Beyonce had given birth there, she said that like other hospitals, suites are available and can be reserved.

One new mother, Rozz Nash-Coulon, said her twins, born Dec. 28, were in the neonatal unit, and starting Friday, intense security measures were implemented and it was a struggle to see her own children as security guards directed hallway traffic. She said a nurse told them Jay-Z and Beyonce were staying at the hospital.

"Once they checked in there was high security everywhere. It looked like the president was on our floor. The hospital's security cameras were taped over. Internal windows from the hallways into the ward were blacked out," said Nash-Coulon, 38.

Nash-Coulon said she and other parents are trying to mobilize to protest their treatment, which she called "disgusting." But Osborne said she had not heard anything about any complaints. She also could not confirm or deny reports that security cameras were taped over.

As for areas of the hospital being blocked off to some, Osborne said: "I can't specifically talk about that but I can tell you that visitors can be asked to leave a waiting area in our hospital for any number of reasons."

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Wednesday, 28 December 2011

US Rep. King: Iraq releases security contractors

Eyewitness NewsNEW YORK -- A U.S. congressman from New York says three security contractors, including two Americans, have been released by Iraqi Army forces after they were held for more than two weeks.

U.S. Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., announced the release of the men on Tuesday. He identified the men as Army veteran Alex Antiohos from Long Island, a former National Guardsman from Savannah, Ga., and a third man from Fiji. He said they were all working for a security firm when Iraqi Ministry of Defense officials rejected paperwork prepared on their behalf by the Iraqi Ministry of Interior.

The men were not charged with any crimes. King said they were released after efforts by his office, the State Department, the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, the Defense Department and the White House.

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Sunday, 15 May 2011

Wary of security, Navy won't talk about bin Laden

Osama bin Laden was born into one of Saudi Arabia's most prosperous families, but he left home in search of revolution, found a path of fanaticism, inspired a murderous organization that terrorized the West, and ultimately became the most wanted man in the world. The most intense manhunt in history finally caught up with bin Laden, whose money and rageful preaching inspired the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, which killed almost 3,000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, and ripped a hole in America's sense of security in the world. Bin Laden, 54, was killed in an operation led by the United States on Sunday, May 1, 2011, touching off scenes of jubilation at the site of the World Trade Center, in Washington and elsewhere. A small team of Americans carried out the attack early Monday in Pakistan, and took custody of bin Laden's remains, which were quickly buried at sea. (ABCNews Photo)

By JIM GOMEZABOARD THE USS CARL VINSON -- American servicemen aboard the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier, which buried Osama bin Laden's body at sea, basked in their history-making mission Sunday but refused to discuss the attack that killed him, reflecting concerns over possible retaliation.

U.S. defense officials are taking measures to ensure the security of the operatives involved in the May 2 assault on a walled compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, particularly the Navy SEAL team that killed the world's most-wanted terrorist.

The massive aircraft carrier dropped anchor under heavy guard at Manila Bay on Sunday at the start of a four-day routine port and goodwill visit. It's the first break for Carl Vinson's 5,500 sailors, pilots and crew after months of war in Iraq and Afghanistan that was capped by their support to the commando strike that killed bin Laden.

All those aboard the warship were ordered not to discuss operational details as they come into contact with the public for the first time since the covert strike, officials said.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino III, accompanied by senior members of his Cabinet and military chief of staff, were flown to the Carl Vinson on Saturday as it traveled in the South China Sea toward the Philippines, a key Asian anti-terrorism ally. Then a group of journalists were invited the next day.

Discussions about the slain al-Qaeda leader were taboo in both visits. American servicemen did not show any overt sign of celebration over their triumph.

Asked how he felt being a part of the history-making mission in Pakistan, Rear Admiral Samuel Perez, who headed the carrier strike force that included the nuclear-powered Carl Vinson, refused to be drawn in.

"You know I'm not going to comment on that," Perez told journalists aboard the 97,000-ton carrier, but added that "everyday that you're a sailor in the U.S. Navy, you're a part of history."

Filipino-American Navy Corpsman Liberty Raposas said morale was "very high" among her colleagues.

Perez said hundreds of servicemen and women who trace their roots to the Philippines welcomed Aquino, who was given a tour of the ship and an exhibition of fighter jets landing and taking off.

Aquino, at one point, sat in the cockpit of an F/A-18E Super Hornet fighter jet in a hangar bay as sailors snapped pictures.

But the one thing on everybody's mind - bin Laden's burial from the Carl Vinson just 12 days earlier - was not raised by either side, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said.

"We did not ask for a briefing because it was too sensitive," Gazmin told The Associated Press on Sunday. "It was a friendly visit and we let it stay that way."

In impromptu remarks on the ship, Aquino reaffirmed the "historic, defense and cultural ties" between the United States and the Philippines, his spokesman, Ricky Carandang, said.

U.S. forces have been training and arming Filipino soldiers battling al-Qaeda-linked militants in the south.

The Carl Vinson came from the North Arabian Sea, where it had received the SEAL team that carried bin Laden's body after his death in his compound near a Pakistani military academy.

Pentagon officials have said that on the carrier, bin Laden's body was placed in a "weighted bag," an officer made religious remarks and the remains were put on a flat board and tipped into the sea.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said that during a recent meeting with SEAL members who attacked bin Laden, they expressed concerns about their families' security.

American officials agreed shortly after bin Laden was killed not to release any details on the commando assault, Gates said, but added "that fell apart - the next day."

"We are looking at what measures can be taken to pump up the security," Gates said.

The U.S. Embassy said Carl Vinson's servicemen will take part in sports events and civic projects with Filipino counterparts.

Philippine police have stepped up security in the capital, where left-wing groups have threatened to stage anti-U.S. military protests and al-Qaeda-linked militants have previously staged bombings.

osama bin laden, barack obama, afghanistan, pakistan, u.s. & world news

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