Protecting the City
by Mayor Michael
R. Bloomberg
Recently two stories
dominated the local news: the hearings in our city by the
independent commission in-vestigating the 9/11 attacks; and
the decision by the International Olympic Committee to name
New York one of the five finalists in the competition to
host the 2012 summer games. What ties those two stories together
is that each showed New York’s determination
to come back strong.
The 9/11 hearings brought
back a flood of painful memories. But by investigating why
we lost so many of our loved ones that day, the Commission’s work will help us ultimately
win the war on terror. From the beginning, our Administration
has also been determined to learn the lessons of 9/11. That’s
why we’ve dramatically stepped up the Police Department’s
intelligence and counter-terrorism activities. It’s why
we’ve increased cooperation and communication between
the Police and Fire Departments, and other agencies that protect
our city. It’s why we’ve instituted regular, ongoing
multi-agency training exercises, like the recent “Operation
Transit Safe,” which simulated a terrorist attack in
the subway system. Because we’ve introduced these and
other measures, I was able to testify to the Commission that
New York is better prepared today to respond to and prevent
any threat, arising from any source.
We’ve
taken all these actions because we recognize that New York
remains a major target for terrorism. Despite that fact,
however, New York State currently ranks 49th among the 50
states in the per person distribution of Federal Homeland
Security funds. The same bizarre skewing of priorities also
plagues how Federal money designed to prepare for and prevent
bio-terrorism is allocated. President Bush has proposed changing
this, and making risks and threats the basis for providing
Homeland Security dollars. But as I noted in my testimony,
the Department of Homeland Security has diluted the impact
of that welcome change by inflating from seven to eighty
the number of cities available for “high-risk” grants.
As goes New York’s economy, so goes the nation’s;
if Wall Street is attacked, Main Street will suffer. That’s
why in my testimony I challenged the Commission to urge Washington
to change these absurd and dangerous policies.
The
9/11 hearings may have overshadowed the city’s designation as a finalist
for the 2012 Olympics. But that decision represented a tremendous
vote of confidence by the members of the International Olympic
Committee in our city, and in our remarkable recovery from
the 9/11 attacks. NYC 2012, the non-profit group leading
New York’s bid for the Olympics, has put together an
exciting and compelling case for bringing the Olympics here.
Should we be fortunate enough to be chosen to host them,
the Games would provide a powerful financial boost, creating
an estimated 125,000 jobs, and pumping $11 billion into our
economy. They would also spur the largest investment
in parks and recreation facilities in the city’s history—a
tremendous legacy for future generations.
Last
week, we cleared a major hurdle on the path to the 2012 Summer
Olympics. The IOC will make its final selection next July—and
we’re hopeful that their decision will be to hold the
world’s greatest athletic event right here, in the
world’s second home.#
