Senator Adams and TWU President Urge MTA to Rescind Cuts that Will Reduce Passenger Safety and Decrease Security Against Terrorism
March 13, 2010
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ISSUE:
- Transportation
- Military Affairs
- Homeland Security
- MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority)
- New York City
PRESS ADVISORY
Senator Eric Adams, Chair Of The NYS Senate Homeland Security Committee, and TWU President John Samuelsen Cite this Year’s Al Qaeda Plot To Detonate a Bomb In The NYC Subway and Urge The MTA to Rescind Cuts that Will Reduce Passenger Safety and Decrease Security Against Terrorism
NYS Senator Eric Adams and Transport Workers Union President John Samuelsen encourage the MTA to maintain full security against terrorist threats to our public transportation system following the guilty plea by jihadist Najibullah Zazi in the Al Qaeda plot to explode a bomb in the NYC subway. MTA plans to cut station agents would reduce front-line workers in the security structure.
Senator Adams states: “Deadly terrorist attacks on the transportation systems in London and Madrid have taken many innocent lives. Those assaults serve as a grim reminder of the vulnerability of urban public transportation and reveal the security challenges we face in New York. The recent case of Najibullah Zazi, the Al Qaeda operative who plotted an attack our transit system, is certain proof that we remain a prime target of jihadi terrorists.
“The MTA’s proposed cuts of several hundred station customer assistants, station agents, and supervisors will result in a dramatically reduced human presence in our subways. There are surely places the MTA can eliminate waste to close its budget gap, but the human presence in our stations should not be one of them. We need well-trained people who can act at a moment’s notice in the event of a daily problem or a calamitous terror attack; station agents are essential.
“I will convene a joint hearing with Senator Dilan, Transportation Committee Chair, on this important issue of passenger safety. The riding public must not be endangered. Subway security must not be diminished.”
Date/Time: Sunday, March 14, 2010 / 1:00 PM
Place: NYC Transit Headquarters, 180 Livingston Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
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