New York Observer article on Mayor's emergency bunker, 1999

NYC-WTC_000173907 Sve oF rey = . o o & PUNT Tent ' ; . : aaa . , a“ ree bt THE NEW YORK OBSERVER. wgnteure belo ONT ‘Sal U3A0H4 CEUTA Bm Ee et ae | vo" 390d PACE 7 ‘ YOaVSSVENV + -butswank, rmy bunks, Noting that -- Tangements ents housed building. is a soaring >mon Smith <ce of the Se- ommission, 2—not even . nd the Lobby. bady else in resarhy tald- ideenter was ° esaidhehed © cant the center.” ia cuted leader’. ciaemies, In a, rE, Michael - ichiy a “oar: eolhthelvxun- - “ Stiled bunker * en. ay: 7: imagery of : Bre Mayor any. Ficil member:. " mains operational. ot There are ‘cans-of fruit oa A @ides around . ipmandcenter. dT. = to see him: V ti) Bunke : “4 wey have questioned the need for an expensive, » high-tech facility. Los Angeles, hardly a : |: stranger to catamities like mudslides and riots, managed to convert. a 1960's bomb _ shelter into an emergency management center, updating the facility for several _ million dollars. And for years, the city’s | emergency management system has been . ran effectively out of Police Headquarters. Bven with the hew facility all but finished, . the command center at 1 Police Plaza re-- wR ty nt ' aU: i: yegeiabios it tie: ee : "command center, but: 2 the Mayor probably uld (prefer the fare at’, i thind-floor cafeteria 7 ha eugene ead in in gin indication of the urgency the adminis- « trtion attached to the project, it was finished io lesg than a year. That’s no small ac- complishment i in aclty where the instal-. BUST Despite the. quia -allisary fy Tooke of tie lation of g single public toilet of therepair "|: Of p-single exit on the F.D. Ry Highway. | fakes years. tua th oe yHiz 17 By wh, command center's décor, Mr. Hauer has. strenuously rejected the suggestion that - the facility is, in fact, a bunker. He has: * pointed out that the center is not a place’ for the Mayor and his allies and relatives to hunker down through disasters. Rather, hs | art communications system, connecting scores of people in government and law _ enforcement via computers to a mapping: " system that pinpoints the location of dis- " asters and shows how near they are to sews. er lines, water mains and subway tuonels:: _ “Given the things that have happened : in this city,” noted Bob Louden, an expert in emergency, management at John Jay: .-College of Crimina} Justice, "cles work together” a HEA’ DING FoR COVERT, Of course, on a less dramatic noté; the: ‘opening of the command center. ‘coincides: with a dip in Mr. Giuliani's popularity and: ment have come under national scrutiny: And just the other day, a coyote roamed, ; toosein Central Park. -. woos . Officials may say the ‘facility 16 not @ _ bunker, buteven so, Mr. Giuliani might be : forgiven for taking cover ina quict place . storms blow over. “He may need it—hia . poll numbers are. dropping." _duipped ~ has said, the facility boasts a state-of-the- . |. ee ‘jt makes: sense “toupgrade what they ate doing and: create a new entity to make sur¢ al] agen- a-perceived political vulnerability. The |": _Rev. Ai Sharptonhas ofanaged to reinveny -|. _ himself yet again, this time ‘at Mr. Giu, , - Jiani’s expense, with pwo weeks of wells ; . puDICReG Gaus aivES a Tt Ui wee: . _ quarters. The tactics of his Police Departs - with a foldout couch until his political: eCSBSraete ‘. “exert more control ogee x \ *# erdergency opera oy, Telief, fand they zealous, Oo. Sy protect their turf,’ og Indeed, it remaing tw). - ee seen how the twol. command centers -will!. ‘coordinate when both] : - spring into action to deal 30 with the latest disaster! © Conttict between .. ne}: Fe nters could exacetbata ; Netalk of a feud between _ Mr... Hauer and Policd|: : Commissioner Howard = iavé been at adds cent, “a wee eee ee I ET , aa snes ai wiaeya BEN PP tl R Rives staayews Sweep ee. *Gluliani on the 23rd floor: of this building, In a high:i tech command center with direct rect telephone access to ‘ ‘the White House. ; haa # el : “City Council tember John Sabin} of nae William Bratton. ‘So there was § [ Queens, . ro : perceived need [for anew center], based of 1 i Then again, he may ind nore! relief there?" || =: watching'agencies battle each other,’ Sacre various agencies if con , y trol rested with him, said ‘no matter how comfortable the pullout”: aie ‘italso fitintohis well-known penchai fi “may be. The command center er was thee Absolute contr6l.”: Po! at oe 66. 82 Ud tore Raph See oa “tyes i re aces NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document