With Crisis in Mind, Center Opens

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

THE NEW YORK TIMES METRO TUESDAY, JUNE t, 1999 L B3

C I T Y

With Crisis in Mind, Center Opens Bunker Mentality Is Denied as City Unveils Emergency Unit By JUDITH MILLER City Council members and critics of er and telecommunications equlp- Ridiculed only a year ago as an GluUtuii administration as one ment available and is hardened to overpriced skybox “bunker” built manifestation of the Mayor’s withstand bombs, hurricanes, pow- to shield Mayor RudidphW. Giuliani preoccupation with order, and, per- er failures and other crises. It was and his top aides from physical and haps, siege mentality. But the com- completed on time and under its $16 perhaps verbal abuse, the city’s $13 Plex won high praise from many of million budget, with its cost less million emergency crisis center of- the Federal and state officials tak- than half that of a center being built flcially opened yesterday with a hig part in a drill to test the city's in Hawaii and less than a third that blaze of activity simulating a bio- response to a terrorist emergency, of a crisis center in earthquake- logical attack on New York. “This is really state of the art — prone Tokyo. In a cavernous room with giant the best I've seen,” said Col. Robert The New York command center overhead television monitors and A. Fitton, the chief of the Pentagon is intended to coordinate the city's digitized aerial photos of the city’s “”‘1 that provides military support response to emergencies ranging subway, sewage and water main to civilian authoriUes in the event of from blackouts and severe storms systems, city officials stared at emergencies. to terrorist attacks with convention- oomputer monitors and huddled in Partly to counter past criticism, al and unconventional weapons. small groups, exchanging informa- Jerome M. Hauer, the city’s chief Built to withstand winds of more tion and sorting rumor from fact emergency manager, escorted a than 160 miles an hour, the center about the hypothetical epidemic small group of reporters through has three generators to insure con- that had gripped New York. the center yesterday, showing off its tlnuous power in the event <rf a Phancniils tv Miidyna K. Yaemt • The complex, which takes up newly installed computers and in- blackout, 11,900 gallons of stored New York Qty’s new crisis center cost $13 million, occupies 50,000 square feet on one floor at the Worl^: 50,000 square feet on the 23d floored formation systems. “This,” Mr. drinkable water tor emergency one of the smaller buildings in the Hauer declared, “is not a bunker.” management workers, a 6,000-gal- Trade Center and is equipped with aerial photos of the city's subway, sewage and water main systems.^ World Trade Center in lower Man- BuUetproofed, the center features 1™ ceiling-mounted fuel tank that battan, has been mocked by some some of the most advanced comput- guarantees 72 hours of operation, city during a non-law enforcement close to the Mayor's office, the Pto* and a secure communications sys- A biological attack crisis to the new center, she re- lice and Fire Departments and the; .. -Jil'rtliiTmi ^^TCTliTrfTTTWttRMIiMFFrTBirhaRtW accommodate up to 94 plied; “We’re not giving up any- headquarters of other high city off city, state and Federal officials is simulated as a thing. We have our own crisis cen- cials, he said, adding that in the; ter.” event of an emergency, personnel* criticized complex But a 1994 memorandum from would want to reach the center on; the center as it was staging a drill < 'a. J v x. the commander of the Police De- foot > with Federal and state officials on makes itS debut. partment's operations division The command center occupied- how to respond to a biological at- _________________________ questioned the ability d Police about half the space of the complex 2 >1 tack. Several officials of the De­ Headquarters to withstand an Engineers had urged that the cenj fense Department and other agen­ emergency. In the event of an earth- ter not be built in a basement or . cies taking part in the drill said they thisone." quake, hurricane, terrorist act or converted bomb shelter — as Los; I were impressed by the center. Some police officials apparently other crisis, the memo stated that Angeles has done — because of-; I The crisis center still has its crit- share her skepticism, particularly One Police Plaza “would likely be Manhattan’s 100-year-oId water > I ics. Councilwoman Kathryn E. since the Police Department al- unable to sustain operations” be- mains. An earthquake or bombing < I Freed, whose district houses the ready has it own command and caused “lossof power, water, com- would risk turning an undergrouiK)-; I new center, reiterated earlier con- control center at Police Headquar- municatioos or structural integri- center into "a $13 million swimming;*

Ofl I (I ■ I cerns about whether the investment ters in lower Manhattan. Emergen- ty." This, in turn, could have a “dev- pool.” Mr. Hauer said. was prudent, given the city's vast cy management officials noted that astating impact on our ability to needs. She also challenged its loca- the department resented the Office restore order." tion in a building not owned by the of Emergency Management’s One of several elevators to the 2- 23d floor, he said, has its own power • 2 Asked about the center's location supply to assure continued accesf 2; I city and tor which it will pay $1.4 growing role in crisis management in the World Trade Crater, in a during a blackout He called securi-; 2 I millioo a year in rent a year under and said its concerns almost scut- building across the street from the ty at the center excellent with nd ■ 2 I its 20-year lease. tied the project at one point site of the 1993 terrorist bombing trucks permitted to enter the build*'. - I “It's an incredible amount of Marilyn Mode, a Police Depart- that killed six people, Mr. Hauer, ing complex without being;2 money to enhance somebody else’s ment spokeswoman, said the de- who is director of the city’s Office of searched. The 47-stoty building, 7 property,” Ms. Freed said. "We bad partment would maintain its own Emergency Management, said the World Trade Center, also rents rtfR-ioi. .. -n. ____ _ _• • a state-of-the-art emergency center command center at Police Head- location was chosen after a study of space on its Sth and 10th floors to tXteials brom several agen^ joined at tte Qty’s ra^en^ cnra in Police Headquarters, and I still quarters. Asked whether the police some 50 alternative sites. The com- the Secret Service, another Govern* center as It was opened yesterday With a sunulated biological attack, don’t understand why we needed resented giving up command of the ptat now has tight security and is ment agency that values security.

porter’s Notebook

[igh-Profile Police Trial Bi >hifts to Mundane Waiting By JOSEPH P. FRIED Another of the four officers wait- Whether it is a trial that has re- big ” the haUway yesterday was P .-Ived no public notice, or one where Charles Schwarz 33, for whom the ae public^potlight has been bril-

So it was yesterday on the Sixth inflicting major Internal in- Schwarz Is charged with s Brooklyn, in a hallw^ outside the *^'^I»**JJ!,***^ , Y*”I holding Mr. Louima down during the attack by Mr. Volpe, who pleaded Ub, WliUvIiame tM YM1 Still awaiting the jury’s verdict. Officer Charles Schwarz emerged from the door of Federal District Court in Brooklyn for lunch yesterday. Sgk; 5 . - ■ in guilty in mid-trial, and conviction on Michael Bellomo, right photo, said he is trying to keep his life normaL S^iraffi^the ** -------------------- -------------- ----- --------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------- worst,” Thomas Broder, a 33-year- “• we can.” Michael Bellomo, Is accused of try- “I have two teen-age children with States Attorney’s office in Brooklyn, Schwarz and decided to put tiJrf< old police officer, said quietly as he officer Schw^ said while the lurv Ing to cover up the repotted beating teen-age problems, and I bad to deal told the jury that the sergeant lied to aside temporarily and deal with sat on a bench with relatives and out of staht in a room behind the of Mr. Louima in the police car as with that This weekaid 1 opened my the agents about the arrests of Mr. geant Bellomo? ->5 awaited the verdict in the Abner nearbv courtroom, worked its wav ’*'* “ Officer Volpe’s beating of a pool I cleaned my cars. All the Louima and Mr. Antoine. Sergeant Did the fact that the jury's noteij Louimacase. throui a month's worth of testimi> second man, Patrick Antoine. Ser- things I neglected to do during the Bellomo's lawyer, John Patten, told have not involved Officers Wiese an^. Officer Bruder and Officer Thom- ny by more than 50 witnesses. The geant Bellomo Is not accused of tak- trial Life has to goon at my house." the panel that his client bad believed Bruder mean the panel had quickly: » Wiese, 35, are charged with beat- jury concluded its second day of de- tag part in any of the assaults. that what he had told the agents decided on those two men, or did i% Mr. Louima in a police car as he Uberations yesterday without reach- Sergeant BeUomo, who if convict- Motos Are Poor Clues about the chaotic street melee was mean the jurors had not even begup. WS^'arrested and was being driven to ingaverdicL ed could face up to 10 years in prison, true. to deal with them? •; th^Yoth Precinct station house in The officer’s wife, Andra, standing said he had tried over the weekend As yesterday's session ended, it The jury's note sparked the kind of “What do you think?” Officef Erpoklyn, where prosecutors Say Mr. at his side had a more direct assess- not to let his concerns about his was clear that the jurors were locus- speculation among reporters and Bruder’s lawyer, Stuart Londoij Ijouims W88 tortured oo the morning ment of tte couple’s agony of wait- future upend life at his Staten Island ing on the charges against Sergeant others in the courtroom's gallery countered when asked. •: q^pig. 9,1997. If convicted, the two ing. As a silver-handed clock on the home. BeUomo. They sent out a note saying that often accompany jury notes at Officer Wiese's lawyer, Joseph T<‘ officers could each be sentenced to marble wall ticked off the long hours, “I separate the trial from my they wanted testimony read to them trials. Did it mean that the jurors copina, said he had "no due.” Refer aS much as 10 years in prison. she said, “It's torture.” liomo Ufo.” said Sergeant Bellomo, a about F.B.I. agents' questioning of bad resolved aU the charges against ring to his past trials, he said: “Fvi -Officer Wiese echoed Officer 12-year veteran of the police force the sergeant ac a session nearly Officer Schwarz, after earlier asking so failed in my previous attempts tQ Bruder’s statements outside the Keeping a Ufe Going who said he hoped to serve with the three months after Mr. Louima and for a reading of testimony relating to figure out what a Jury is doing. I’ve courtroom yesterday. “This is the department for 20 years, then be- Mr. Antoine had been attacked. him? Did it mean they could not given up trying. That’s why it’s utter toughest time, the waiting," he said. A fourth defendant in the trial. Sgt come a schoolteacher. The prosecutors, from the United decide the charges against Officer torture to me." *,

Departing United States Attorney Makes an Imprint on His Office, ifNot a Name for Himself i Continued From Page Bl more important to him than any oth- owner who had been indicted oo drug too often poached cases. Mr. Carter a lawyer in the office a decade building after a cross burning oQ er,” said Valerie Caproni, who was charges. Mr. Gatien's lawyer, Benja- disputed that view, saying he was earlier, leaving in 1981 for stints as campus. For years, the incident has the chief of the Criminal Division mln Brafman, said he respected Mr. tightfisted when it made sense to an executive assistant district attor- appeared in every profile of Mr. Cari 4 Pwerty taxes as discriminatory, until last year. Mr. Carter look over Carter but had concerns about bow bold on to a case. The United Stales ney in Brooklyn and later as a New ter, the law enforcement official sftthS and his concern about police brutal- the case from the state because Fed- his office handled some cases. Attorney for the Southern District, York City Criminal Court judge. Mr. a radical past And Mr. Carter,.-ub-J Ity. bl addition to the Louima case, oral convictions often carry stiffer “He is a sincere, honest man who Mary Jo White, said she saw nothing Carter’s interim successor will be apologetic, resolutely describes The the office is investigating whether penalties. He attended the trial near- took his job very seriously," Mr. of the wallflower in Mr. Carter. chosen by the Justice Department, incident, however risky, as a pjsP incidents of excessive force by offi- ly every day, watching from the third Brafman said. “I question, however, “He is quiet but not shy," she said, and his ultimate replacement will be live, formative experience. :ers are a product of systemic fail- row as his most seasoned prosecu- some of the judgments made in rath- “and quite tenacious in overseeing appointed by the PresidenL “1 am grateful” he said, “tor havi ires in New York Qty Police Depart- tors presented evidence. er significant prosecutions that he the cases that he brings.” Mr. Carter's social consciousness ing had, at that age, an opportunity to nent procedures. Mr. Carter will not designate one authorized. The cases were com- Friends and associates describe is apparent upon entering his 15tb- make a sacrifice and develop a com- : 'Even in the area of street crime, a case as paramount, but he does not pletely unsupported by the facts or Mr. Carter as a serious man, some- floor office in Brooklyn. Ooe wall mitment on an issue that was larger lomaln that Federal prosecutors dispute the magnitude of the Louima based on tortured legal theories.” times prone to bits of seU-righteous- carries a poster of Norman Rock- than myself.” Mr. Carter said he if^n cede to their state counter- incident, one so brutal, he said, that It Other natural antagonism, like Io- ness but seldom to bouts of self- well’s painting "The Problem We All ultimately chose the law because iqtts, Mr. Carter’s dismantling of initially stunned him. “This case ob- cal prosecutors, had a more benign importance. Several prosecutors Live With," which depicts a Mack that was an effective route to a pub- bad the effect of curbing viously reveals a level of misconduct view of Mr. Carter. The Brooklyn said he occasionally joined office girl being escorted to school by Fed- lie service career. :ratiinal acUvity that disproportion- and abuse beyond what anyone has District Attorney, Charles J. Hynes, parties at a nearby bar lor a beer eral marshals. Mr. Carter traces his Public service wUl take a back ugly victimized the poor. Mr. Carter ever reported,” he said. said Mr. Carter bad helped forge an (one) and lovingly recounted tales of own activism to that of his parents, seat now for Mr. Carter, who is trad- lald that as proud as he is of his In his other major civil rights unusually cooperative relationship his 6-year-old daughter. Chandler, or who ran the civic association in their ing in his $118,000-a-year Govern- iffice’s organized-crime prosecu- prosecution, Mr. Carter’s office se- between their two offices. The told of his misfortunes on the golf Washington neighborhood for dec- ment job for one that wUl bring him ions, like the ccHiviction of the Malia cured the convictions of two men Queens District Attorney, Richard course. (People who have played ades, anxmg other things. conslderabty more. w(NiId lil^ iu) loss Vincent Gigante, he feels they involved in the stabbing death of Brown, said Mr. Carter’s diplomacy with Mr. Carter said he shoots in the As a child in the District of Colum- create a situation for myself and my neant “zilch” to people living in Yankel Rosenbaum during the 1991 extended to the way he stole talent, mid-80’s, which is uncommon, and bia public schools, Mr. Carter said, family so that we are financially rapoverlsbed neighborhoods. disturbance in Crown Heights. More which he did repeatedly from Mr. does not cheat, which is even rarer.) the piano and the violin were his secure enough so that years frpid “The people who were dlminisbing recently, Mr. Carter’s office began Brown, but always after asking per- His wife. Rosalind. Is a vice president constant companioas. But in high now, if I want to make a contribution he quality of their lives,” he said, investigating allegations of brutality mission. "He works and plays nicely for human resources at ARE, the school, his interest in public service to public service, 1 could do so cdm. ‘particularly in the early to mld-90's, by guards at the Nassau County Jail with others,” Mr. Brown said. cable television network. began to bud, and he was the presi- fortably,” he said. rare anonymous crack gangs Whose Mr. Carter’s setbacks include the Several prosecutors who work for Mr. Carter was a Federal magis- dent of Washington’s Junior Federa- How soon might he return to the tames no one knew.” 1998 acquittals of Assemblyman Dov Mr. Carter said they found him gen- tratc in 1993 when be was appointed tion of Civic Associations. public payroU? Mr. Carter smiled. ' Many find it fitting that Mr. Carter HikmC, whom prosecutors had ac- erou^ a fault when dealing with the to the EasteiS|District post oo the When be wy 19, Mr. Carter joined "It depend” he said, "on when^ji hose to leave just after the Louima cused of taking Illegal payoffs, and SoutMfrn District, the office’s Man- recommeodatSi of Senator Daniel other student some of them armed, haveenougti’moiieyputawaytopdy-- ase. “In my opinion, that case was Peter Gatien. a prominent nightclub hattan rival, which they contended Patrick Moynihan. He had worked as In taking over a Cornell University my daughter’s tuition.’’

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