Tunnel Security Not Good Enough, Part II

After Sept. 11, the department assigned officers to guard the entrances to all 14 tunnels at all times. It also did so after the Moscow subway explosions in February 2004 and the Madrid commuter train bombings in March 2004.

But for most of the time since early 2002, the police have kept a permanent presence at only eight of the tunnels, Mr. Browne, the police spokesman, said in a statement.

At the other six tunnels, officers were posted round the clock to ride back and forth, standing in the first car so they could observe any intruder trying to enter a tunnel. When the officers reached the station at the other side of a tunnel, they exited and crossed over to the opposite platform for the return ride.

"We evaluate threats against the city every day," Mr. Browne said. "Obviously, there are periods when the collective intelligence judgment is to add resources and to provide fixed coverage to certain sensitive locations. Ideally, you'd want to have all things covered at all time, but we can't do that."

The current 24-hour coverage at all 14 tunnels will continue at least as long as the country's mass transit systems remain in a state of high alert, Mr. Browne said. The transportation authority plans to reimburse the police for much of the overtime duty, which has cost more than $1.9 million a week, he said.

Note that these security measures do not actually address the infrastructure needs for security - only manpower concerns, which wax and wane depending on the fiscal environment. It takes a comprehensive approach to improve security, and it would appear that this is not the case.

UPDATE:
Cellphone access in the four motor vehicle tunnels has been fully restored. Service was cut after the 7/7 bombing, restored in the BBT and QMT, but the Port Authority, which controls the Holland and Lincoln tunnels didn't restore the service until yesterday after people complained that they wouldn't be able to call 911 in case of an emergency.