Developing: Multiple Casualties From Shooting Outside Empire State Building

Shortly after 9:00 AM local time, multiple reports came in indicating that there was a shooting in the vicinity of the Empire State Building. It appears that there are at least six injuries, and at least one person killed besides the shooter. The NYPD and FDNY are on the scene, which has been secured.

The reports indicate that the shooter may have been recently fired from a business that operates in the building.

Police apparently shot the gunman, but not before the gunman killed at least one person. Several others have been taken to area hospitals. The area around the Empire State Building has been closed to traffic as the investigation continues.

At least four of those injured were shot. There were about 10 injured.

The victims were apparently targeted by the gunman. In one instance, a witness claims to have seen the gunman walk up to one of the victims and shot them point blank in the head.

UPDATE:
More details emerging, including several potential motives:

The investigation into the matter was in its earliest stages, and the official said he was unsure of the details and circumstances that led to the shooting.

Two law enforcement officials said investigators have concluded that the shooting had no connection to terrorism and that it appeared to stem from a domestic dispute of some kind. A third said it may have been sparked by a robbery or dispute in the street.

One woman said that she had just come out of a dentist’s office near the Empire State Building when the shooting happened.

“Suddenly I heard two shots or three shots, boom boom boom, and I saw two guys, they go to the floor,” said the woman, who would only give her first name, Monica. “I was really afraid.”

Andrew Pellenberg, 23, and a friend, both from New Jersey, were thinking about visiting the Empire State Building. “We heard 10 to 15 gunshots, and it was all in a 30-second span,” Mr. Pellenberg said.

Several of the victims were treated at the corner of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. The wounded were taken to Bellevue Hospital and St. Luke’s Roosevelt, with the more seriously injured going to Bellevue, the official said.

The Latest From Zuccotti Park's OWS Protests and an Albany Update

Overnight, the New York metro area got hit with quite a bit of rain, and it turned a whole lot colder. That cold will last through the weekend, and weather forecasts are putting snow in the forecast for Saturday. While the suburbs north and west are being threatened with 6 inches or more of snow, the city itself is likely to see a dusting to an inch at most.

It will be a most unpleasant situation for those trying to tough out the protests at Zuccotti Park. Making it even more difficult is the FDNY and NYPD, who have confiscated generators and propane and gas tanks and other equipment as fire hazards and are looking for fire code violations.

The FDNY were looking for safety violations. At issue: Propane tanks and gas generators being used to keep the protesters warm. The inspection, involving dozens of firefighters, was overseen by Fire Commissioner Sal Cassano.

Protesters turned over six generators and dozens of gasoline cans, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. He reiterated that the protesters can stay as long as they want, provided that they follow the law. Bloomberg spoke on his weekly radio show on WOR.

Earlier this week, fire officials had raised concerns to the city about potential fire hazards in the park, especially as the temperature drops. Protesters are using tents, sleeping bags, and more to help them stay warm. It will be interesting to see how the protesters cope this weekend, when New York City may get its first snow of the season – even if it is expected to be just trace amounts.

While the temperature is dropping in the city, things may be heating up between protesters and the police. Thursday, the head of the NYPD’s Sergeants’ Union issued a warning to demonstrators.

He says protest-related incidents that leave cops injured could be met with civil lawsuits.

That warning came after escalating violence at Occupy demonstrations around the country.

While the NYPD unions are threatening lawsuits against those that attack police officers, I also expect a slew of suits against the police department on grounds that they violated the protesters civil rights or used undue amounts of force to subdue protesters. Some of those cases may be valid, but each will take time to investigate. Already, one such incident resulted in a police officer being reassigned after he used pepper spray against a protester inappropriately.

Meanwhile, a Fox 5 NY reporter, John Huddy was threatened with an assault by a protester who was angry and otherwise incoherent. NYPD arrested the person, and Huddy was quick to point out that protesters' reactions to him have been generally friendly and accommodating. Huddy has been covering the protests on a daily basis from Zuccotti Park along with a handful of other reporters, so he's a known quantity down there to the protest "spokespeople".

I expect some to use the Huddy incident as an indictment of the whole, but as Huddy notes, that's the exception to the general rule among the protesters.

Meanwhile, upstate in Albany (where there's also snow in the forecast and much colder weather, people marchedfrom the Occupy Albany encampment in Lafayette Park near the State Capitol to to the War Room, protesting Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s support for letting a surcharge on high income New Yorkers expire.

Another issue that is a hot-button topic for the protesters is hydrofracking, and while Mayor Jerry Jennings is supportive of the OWS Albany protests (including resisting calls from Gov. Cuomo to disperse the protesters from the park), he's vetoed a city ban on hydrofracking. Jennings correctly notes that the state has yet to promulgate rules on hydrofracking and it's premature to take an action when the state is going through the process of setting rules.

While some local politicians have supported the OWS movement, others are warily moving in the other direction, including Assembly Speaker Shelly Silver, whose district includes Zuccotti Park.

Silver, at the same time, tried to distance himself from the Occupy Wall Street protesters encamped in his Lower Manhattan district.
“I don’t consider them political allies,” he told reporters after an unrelated news conference in Manhattan. “The people have a right to be heard . . . But I also believe that neighbors have a right to enjoy their homes as well.”

That's even as he supports extending the millionaire's tax surcharge for New Yorkers.

UPDATE:
As to the threat of the police suing protesters who attack cops, there's a few interrelated issues. One would be that workers comp would likely supersede the civil action to recover from the defendant in a legal action. However, if a civil action can proceed, it would be like any other assault/battery case in NY. The police officer, as the plaintiff would have the burden of showing that the defendant assaulted him or her.

Thing is that we usually don't get such warnings when police officers are injured in the line of duty (such things happen all the time). We don't hear about a cop suing a drug dealer who shoots and injures the cop in the line of duty - yet they're going after these protesters with a threat of a lawsuit. That's pretty ballsy.

UPDATE:
In a related note, Chris Nolan is filming the next installment of his Batman series in New York City over the next few days and may include some background shots of the protesters at Zuccotti Park in some fashion. After his New York appearances, the Dark Knight will find his way to Newark for more exterior shots.

Mayor Bloomberg Releases Fire Department Closure List; Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn Hardest Hit

After days of stalling over whether a tentative list of closures even existed, Mayor Mike Bloomberg and the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) relented and released the list, and the news isn't good at all.

20 firehouses would be closed, including two in Lower Manhattan and eight in Brooklyn.

Below are the fire companies on the endangered list:

E004 42 South St. Manhattan
E026 220 West 37th St. Manhattan
E046 460 Cross Bronx Expwy. Bronx
E060 341 East 143rd St. Bronx
E157 1573 Castleton Ave. Staten Island
E161 278 McClean Ave. Staten Island
E205 74 Middagh St. Brooklyn
E206 1201 Grand St. Brooklyn
E218 650 Hart St. Brooklyn
E220 530 11th St. Brooklyn
E233 25 Rockaway Ave. Brooklyn
E284 1157 79th St. Brooklyn
E294 101-20 Jamaica Ave. Queens
E306 40-18 214th Place Queens
E328 16-19 Central Ave. Queens
L008 14 North Moore St. Manhattan
L053 169 Schofield Ave. Bronx
L104 161 South 2nd St. Brooklyn
L128 33-51 Greenpoint Ave. Queens
L161 2929 W 8th St. Brooklyn

That's absolutely staggering in its consequences. Not only would response times become that much longer in the affected areas, but the Lower Manhattan closures would directly affect response times to incidents in and around Ground Zero, which remains a top terror target. It's absolutely inconceivable that the Fire Department can't cut management positions to save firehouses or institute other efficiencies rather than hit manpower that directly affects public safety.

Moreover, it reduces the margin of safety when additional alarms are called for emergencies because it means that responding engine and ladder companies have to come from that much further away to provide backup and additional manpower to deal with rapidly changing emergency situations.

I'm hardly alone in my incredulity over the plan proffered by Mayor Bloomberg and his Fire Commissioner Sal Cassano. Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz slammed Bloomberg and the FDNY for the Brooklyn closures and their disproportionate impact on Brooklyn (the City's most populous borough):

“I am flabbergasted that eight engine and ladder companies—nearly half of the 20 proposed closures citywide—are in Brooklyn. If there is any serious thought being given to closing these houses, it needs to be extinguished like a three-alarm fire. Just in the last week, Engine 284 in Dyker Heights—one of the companies on the hit list—assisted with an area fire and their quick response no doubt saved lives. I know we are experiencing challenging economic times, but the truth is, in Brooklyn we need the FDNY now more than ever. Brooklyn is growing by leaps and bounds, which means that in the coming years there will be an ever greater need for New York’s Bravest. It is our collective responsibility to ensure maximum safety for all of our residents—and that means no firehouse closings!”

While the City's budget is strained, three areas should not be compromised - fire and police safety and education. Yet, these are areas where Bloomberg is cutting deepest. It's a mistake and it needs to be resolved in a way that doesn't put the public at greater risk.

Smoking Gun In Lawsuits Against FDNY Over Ground Zero Exposures

Lawyers for firefighters and other emergency personnel who worked on the pile at Ground Zero following the collapse of the Twin Towers may have found the smoking gun that shows that the FDNY violated its own standing rules on providing respirators to the 11,200 workers who helped clear the site.

Lawyer Andrew Carboy, whose firm represents more than 600 firefighters, said the FDNY had rules on the book requiring Bravest be equipped with respirators before Sept. 11.

But memos showing that weren't handed over until this summer - in a data dump of 3 million documents - five years after the legal battle began. "They provide everyone with helmets, with bunker gear, with [air] packs. They could have done the same with respirators, and they withheld the documents saying they had a program to do it," Carboy said.

Carboy's firm represents Firefighters Frank Malone and the late Raymond Hauber, whose cases are among a dozen picked to go to trial, starting in May.

Four were chosen from more than 9,000 by a federal judge, four by the city, and four by plaintiffs' lawyers. More than $1 billion in damages hinge on the outcome.

To show the city is liable, Carboy plans to wield memos about the FDNY's "respiratory protection program," which was supposed to provide respirators for "reasonably foreseeable emergency situations" like building collapses.

The FDNY didn't follow its own guidelines and had only 600 respirators for more than 11,200 uniformed members when the twin towers fell Sept. 11, Carboy said.

A 2003 FDNY memo called for the head of safety and health for the department, Tennyson Headley, to be canned in part because of the dysfunctional respirator program. But Headley is still on the FDNY payroll.

In a Feb. 5 deposition, he admitted he didn't know the FDNY had a program until well after 9/11, or that he was responsible for making sure firefighters were trained to use the masks.

The city's lawyers deny the memo was hidden, saying documents about the program were "irrelevant" because a separate respirator policy was created for Ground Zero after the attacks.

On Sept. 11, the FDNY ordered 5,000 respirators for $20 to $25 each, court documents say.

This suit is proceeding all while the compensation package is stalled in Congress that would speed compensation to those who need it badly to deal with a myriad of ailments sustained in working in and around Ground Zero during the cleanup. Many have faulted the FDNY for not providing respirators and other devices to protect workers from exposure to all manner of toxic materials emitted into the air following the collapse and subsequent fires that raged for weeks thereafter.

Times Square Bomb Investigation Gets Underway

While reports indicate that the bomb that was discovered in a Nissan Pathfinder was
"amateurish" in design, the reports also say that it was a massive bomb that could have done significant damage had an alert street vendor not called police over to investigate further.

At 6:28 p.m., Mr. Kelly said, a video surveillance camera recorded what was believed to be the dark green Nissan S.U.V. driving west on 45th Street.

Moments later, a T-shirt vendor on the sidewalk saw smoke coming out of vents near the back seat of the S.U.V., which was now parked awkwardly at the curb with its engine running and its hazard lights on. The vendor called to a mounted police officer, the mayor said, who smelled gunpowder when he approached the S.U.V. and called for assistance. The police began evacuating Times Square, starting with businesses along Seventh Avenue, including a Foot Locker store and a McDonald’s.Police officers from the emergency service unit and firefighters flooded the area and were troubled by the hazard lights and running engine, and by the fact that the S.U.V. was oddly angled in the street. At this point, a firefighter from Ladder 4 reported hearing several “pops” from within the vehicle. The police also learned that the Pathfinder had the wrong license plates on it.

Members of the Police Department’s bomb squad donned protective gear, broke the Pathfinder’s back windows and sent in a “robotic device” to “observe” it, said Deputy Commissioner Paul J. Browne, the police department’s chief spokesman.

Inside, they discovered three canisters of propane like those used for barbecue grills, two five-gallon cans of gasoline, consumer-grade fireworks — the apparent source of the “pops” — and two clocks with batteries, the mayor said. He said the device “looked amateurish.”

Mr. Browne said: “It appeared it was in the process of detonating, but it malfunctioned.”

Bomb squad officers also discovered a two-by-two-by-four-foot metal box — described as a “gun locker” — in the S.U.V. that was taken to the Police Department’s firing range at Rodman’s Neck in the Bronx to be destroyed, Mr. Kelly said. It was not immediately known what, if anything, was inside it.

Officials said they had no reports of anyone seen running from the vehicle. Mr. Kelly said police were scouring the area for any additional videotapes but noted that the S.U.V.’s windows were tinted, which could further hamper any efforts to identify those inside. Some of the surveillance cameras nearby were located in closed businesses, and the mayor made clear it would take time to review all available tapes.

“We have no idea who did this or why,” Mr. Bloomberg said.

The Pathfinder was driven into Times Square and apparently abandoned. The driver's whereabouts are unknown, as is his motive. The vehicle's license plates were stolen and the VIN number was filed off.

New York City dodged a bullet given that this bomb had the potential to do significant damage. Times Square was exceedingly busy last night with the unseasonably warm temperatures bringing people out to enjoy the weather, plus the usual large crowds going to the theaters, restaurants, and sights in Times Square. The vehicle's location was outside the Marriott Marquis, and that large hotel (1,949 rooms, plus convention space, restaurants, and theaters) was affected by closures, as were other restaurants and theaters in the area. Street cordons blocked off much of Times Square to all traffic, but has since reopened this morning.





Without having a person in custody, there is no word on motive, or whether there was a specific target in mind. Right now, all the talking heads can do is speculate on who, what, and why.

Times Square has witnessed several incidents in recent years, including a pipe bomb that hit the Armed Forces Recruiting station, and an abandoned vehicle that was deemed suspicious last December that was ultimately found to be not a threat.

It will take reviews of video from the area - many of the buildings and law enforcement have videos of Times Square - to see if the vehicle's driver can be identified. Investigators are also tracking back the ownership of the Pathfinder to see if there's anything that can shed light on last night's failed bombing.

UPDATE:
Lots of updates. There's a person of interest who appears to be a white male in his 40s. Pakistani Taliban group claims responsibility for the attack as revenge for the elimination of two al Qaeda in Pakistan.

The U.S.-based SITE intelligence group, which monitors militant websites, said the Pakistani Taliban claims the attack is revenge for the death of its leader Baitullah Mehsud and the recent killings of the top leaders of al-Qaida in Iraq. Images of the slain militants are shown as an unidentified voice recites the message. English subtitles are at the bottom of the screen.

New York authorities were combing through the SUV at a forensic lab for fingerprints and DNA evidence and had isolated a 200-pound gun locker at a police firing rang in the Bronx, trying to determine whether it could contain more power explosives that could have detonated the explosive device.

Police say that they have no links just yet. Rep. Peter King posited that this could have been an attack done as revenge for Comedy Central allowing South Park to go forward with its depiction of Mohammed.

The US authorities are considering this to be a potential terror attack and the NYPD and other law enforcement are investigating, using all the means at their disposal.

UPDATE:
The feds are treating this as a potential terror attack; it clearly wasn't an accident. It was a failed terror attack, and the failure means that obtaining forensics will be easier.

There is also word that someone called in to 911 the possibility that this incident was a diversion:

On Sunday, police and F.B.I. officials were also investigating a 911 call placed at around 4 .a.m. on Sunday, several officials said. The caller, who one official said sounded intelligent, admonished the 911 dispatcher not to interrupt him until he was finished and then said there would be a massive explosion soon and the car in Times Square was only a diversion.

The call came from a payphone at West 53rd Street and Seventh Avenue, which detectives have since dusted for fingerprints, the officials said.

It remained unclear what link, if any, existed between the caller and the failed car bomb from hours earlier, the officials said.

UPDATE:
The tape of Taliban thugs claiming credit for failed TS bombing appears legitimate. Well, they can claim credit but doesn't mean that they did it - they could be claiming credit for a lone wackaloon or jihadi lone wolf, or they could have been behind it - in which case, that means that there may be coconspirators involved domestically and abroad.

NYC Subway Skeleton Key Opens Doors and Elevators

As I wrote earlier this week about the fact that a system is only as secure as its least secure facility, the skeleton keys sold for a pittance by members of the MTA not only allow unfettered access to subways, but also activate the elevator fireman's service system.

After revealing that scammers are selling fare-beaters a $27 key that opens subway emergency exits, the Daily News found the key also controls elevators at thousands of city buildings.

The FDNY confirmed the "firemen's service" key - used in emergencies - can call all elevators to the lowest floor and hold them there.

Thousands of firefighters have the keys, which the FDNY has been using for many years, FDNY spokesman Frank Gribbon said.

They work in "tens of thousands of buildings" - including all commercial high-rises, he said.

The News got a key from a Brooklyn man who said he paid a transit worker $27 for a copy, which he used to avoid paying the $2.25 train fare.

A second man busted by cops recently for having one of the keys told the Daily News he bought his copy from a transit worker for about $50.

NYC Transit President Thomas Prendergast said the agency may have to replace the locks on the system's 1,412 gates, which would likely cost more than $1 million, he said.

While some people argue that a terrorist isn't likely to use the keys when they can get an untraceable Metrocard by paying cash at any one of thousands of vending machines, these keys do more than just allow free access to the subways. They provide for the opportunity for all manner of mayhem.

About 50 people have been arrested this year for possessing these skeleton keys. Farebeating has cost the MTA $27 million in lost fares each year. That likely doesn't include those MTA, FDNY, and NYPD officers who take advantage of the keys for their own free rides.

I suspect that the problem is not confined to the New York City MTA but other major metropolitan areas, and it's an issue that needs to be addressed in the wider assessment of homeland security to protect subways and mass transit from terror attacks, vandalism, and other criminal activity.

FDNY To Take Possession Of New Fireboats For First Time In Decades

The Fire Department of New York has a fleet of two fireboats that are decades old - one was commissioned in 1938 and the other was commissioned in 1958. They are from another era and while they've been periodically updated, the fireboats are ready to be replaced. The FDNY has bought two new fireboats that will be brought into service this year that will greatly improve the firefighting capabilities on land and water.

The boats will be able to pump 50,000 gallons of water a minute, which is more than double the current fireboats' capabilities. During 9/11, the FDNY fireboats were a major lifeline enabling the FDNY to fight fires throughout Lower Manhattan following the collapse of the Twin Towers because water mains and standpipes were demolished. With so much of the city accessible from water, this is a capability that is badly needed, particularly in major incidents.

9/11: Eight Years Later

*** This post will remain on the top of the page. Scroll down for other coverage. ***

It's pretty hard to believe that eight years have passed since the deadly 9/11 attacks, in which nearly 3,000 people were murdered by 19 al Qaeda terrorists who hijacked four airliners with the intent to crash them into the Twin Towers in New York City, the Pentagon, and either the White House or Capitol Building in Washington, DC.

The vivid memories of the attacks have faded, and have instead been replaced with asinine ad campaigns for the WWF.

Local television networks are contemplating the extent of coverage of the memorial service at Ground Zero, which will include the reading of the names of all those murdered at the Twin Towers.

On the morning of the 9/11 anniversary, it's expected all the local stations will once again go wall-to-wall with coverage of the name-reading ceremony at Ground Zero.

They'll do as they have for the previous seven anniversaries, tossing out commercials and carrying the coverage until the last victim's name is read.

However, there's a growing reluctance to do so, one partly driven by money.

"This is crazy," said one station insider. "Nobody wants to be the first to pull out."

From a moral standpoint, station officials know well that airing the ceremony is the right thing to do. The ceremony is New York, and it has been an emotional event each time before.

They eventually will stop covering this, although it is only two years until the 10th anniversary of the attacks, and the nation's collective memories will fade even further. The problem is that many are still living with the effects of the attacks, particularly in the New York metro area, and Jay-Z has responded with a benefit concert (and whose tickets were promptly scalped for up to $3,000 when face tickets started at $54.50). Proceeds from ticket and concert merchandise sales will go to the New York Police and Fire Widows' and Children's Benefit Fund.

The tragic circumstances of the aftermath is continuing to take lives. Reports indicate that the number of people who have died as a result of their exposure to Ground Zero has increased. Moreover, several responders have committed suicide.

More than 800 World Trade Center rescue and recovery workers have died since 9/11 -- and cancer has killed at least 270 of those heroes, new data show.

The figures also show that 33 WTC responders committed suicide.

State researchers have tallied 817 deaths of workers and volunteers who toiled at toxic Ground Zero or the Fresh Kills landfill, where rubble was sifted.

Benny Gordon will be racing on September 11 in Virginia in a NASCAR event in a car adorned with 9/11 themed logos to raise awareness for the fundraising efforts for the National 9/11 Museum and Memorial at Ground Zero.

It is interesting to see the difference that a year of construction makes at Ground Zero. This is a photo taken of the Freedom Tower from across West Street at the Vesey Street overpass last year:

While much of the site is still below the level of the streets surrounding the 16 acres, tower cranes are erecting steel and concrete for 1WTC, the Freedom Tower, and 4WTC on the opposite corner. The memorial and museum are underway (new renderings of the memorial and museum pavilions were released September 10 and picked up by Curbed), although construction deadlines are in doubt whether they will be completed in time for the 10th anniversary of the attacks (the museum is scheduled to open in 2012 and the memorial should at least be partially open by September 11, 2011).

Here's a photo taken from nearly the same vantage point just over a week ago:

 

Meanwhile, the cornerstone that was dedicated in 2004 is back at the shop where it was originally fabricated and no one knows what will become of it. In the meantime, it will be placed in a garden at the fabrication facility in Hauppaugue.

Still, the work on the Freedom Tower is a tangible sign of progress, which stands in stark contrast to the lack of visible work on the former Deutsche Bank building and Fiterman Hall. Fiterman Hall is finally being deconstructed, and it's likely that the Deutsche Bank building will follow. Both should have been deconstructed long ago, but the City, State, and public authorities responsible for the sites failed miserably to do what had to be done.

It's only been in the last few weeks that Larry Silverstein gained control over the site for 2WTC and 3WTC, and there's no timetable for when those projects will be completed because there's some effort underway to build the towers as nothing more than stumps that will be finished when the business climate improves. I think that's a terribly shortsighted mistake, and it means that construction in and around Ground Zero will persist for decades to come.

The business climate and the financial market meltdown has meant that demand for office space has declined, but it will eventually come back, and Class A space will be in high demand at some point. In other words, top quality office space is always in demand, and at favorable rates, it will draw businesses to consider working in Lower Manhattan. Turning Ground Zero into a perpetual work zone is a guarantee that those businesses wont come, because they wont want the hassle of working in such an environment.

Yet, local politicians aren't making much of an issue of Ground Zero redevelopment during the current election season. It's not even an issue, despite the fact that we're talking about $10 billion in redevelopment ongoing in and around the site. Redevelopment has become an afterthought, and no one in government has taken it upon themselves to stand guard and make sure that development takes place. Instead, we get a muddled mess and resigned indifference.

It's hoped that the 9/11 memorial will be finished in time for the 10th anniversary, but other memorials have been completed around the region, including one on Staten Island.

 

This is a closeup of the Staten Island 9/11 Memorial, which sits across from Lower Manhattan. The defining feature of this memorial is that not only are the names and ages of those murdered in the attacks provided, but each person's silhouette was carved into their stone marker. It's a very personal touch, and a powerful one at that. Family and friends have left photos and other personal effects from time to time.

Never forget.

There are memorials all around the nation, yet none is more powerful than the absence of the Twin Towers and the tribute of light that shines from near ground Zero in a silent testimony to those murdered on 9/11.

 

UPDATE:
Others carrying remembrances and commemorating 9/11: Don Surber, Lorie Byrd, Ed Morrissey, The Anchoress, Sister Toldjah, Michelle Malkin, and more will be posted as I get a chance.

UPDATE:
Today's commemorations in New York City are taking place under gloomy conditions with heavy rain and strong winds, which is quite unlike the startling beautiful morning immediately prior to the first of two planes to crash into the WTC.

For my prior year recollections and postings, see September 11, 2008, September 11, 2007, September 11, 2006, and September 11, 2005, in which I wrote:

As I write this, the names of the WTC victims are being recited at Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan.

What is thus far the enduring memorial? The Times discusses the ad hoc memorials that sprang up around the city in the days and weeks following the attacks. However, the article itself doesn't mention who did the attacks. There is a passing reference to terrorism, but how are people supposed to remember the day if they don't remember who did this to us? It would be like remembering Pearl Harbor day on December 7 and not saying that it was Japanese fighters that launched the attack, which brought the US into World War II.

So, for the record, let me restate this day. 9/11/2001 was the day that 19 Islamic terrorists hijacked four airliners with the intent to kill tens of thousands of Americans while they were at work, play, travel, and engaging in life, crashed those planes into the Pentagon and World Trade Center's Twin Towers, and murdered more than 3,000 people. Al Qaeda, an Islamic terrorist group with ties to Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and a host of other failed states, claimed responsibility.

Yet, there are still a significant portion of the US population who think that the US government was either behind the attacks, or knew of the attacks and did nothing to stop them. Just as bad is the view across the Islamic world, where many simultaneously believe that someone else besides Muslims were behind the attacks (Jews/Israel among the top choices), and cheer that al Qaeda carried out the attacks, despite all the evidence and the fact that al Qaeda has repeatedly taken credit for the heinous attacks.

UPDATE:
The New York Times looks back on the fearful times that immediately followed the 9/11 attacks, and how many people thought that life would never be the same - and that skyscrapers were too dangerous and that another attack could come at any time. Eight years later, the NYC skyline has seen several notable additions, particularly in Midtown, including the NYT headquarters. It should be remembered that President Bush did manage to prevent another mass casualty attack in the US since 9/11. We can only hope that President Obama keeps up the fight and continues that string of good fortune.

UPDATE:
Trooferism is still alive and well. It most recently bubbled to the surface in relation to Van Jones, who was tapped by President Obama to oversee the Administration's Green agenda. It was claimed that he signed a petition calling for additional investigations in to 9/11 and a government role in the attacks. Salon contacted numerous other signatories and wanted to know if they would again sign such a petition. Quite a few said they would, including Ed Asner and quite a few academics. One expressed sadness that Jones recanted, while another, Paul Hawken (cofounder of Smith and Hawken) said he wouldn't, because he never signed the original.

UPDATE:
Legalbgl, my friend and coblogger, has posted a remembrance of Hagay Shefi as he has done remembrances for others murdered on 9/11 in past years.

UPDATE:
Kudos to Bing.com and Ask.com for commemorating the anniversary of the attacks. Google (which also happens to own blogspot) and Yahoo! have no such commemoration.

UPDATE:
For an interesting look back at the events of the day, check out Mediaite.com, which has screen shots taken of major websites in the course of September 11, 2001. Also, check out Instapundit's postings through the course of the day.

How To Hold a Disaster Drill

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey held a disaster drill this morning, which is the largest mobilization of its kind since the 9/11 attacks. They had been warning residents and businesses and commuters for the past couple of weeks that they would be doing so, so as not to alarm locals when they saw hundreds of vehicles rushing to the World Trade Center's PATH station.

The mobilization included the FDNY, NYPD, Port Authority and other state and local law enforcement and was based on a scenario that a PATH train was bombed between Hoboken and New York City's World Trade Center station.

I'm all too familiar with those tracks as I used them regularly prior to 9/11 and since work relocated to just a few blocks from Ground Zero. I, along with tens of thousands of other commuters, benefit greatly from this kind of preparation and joint training since the lessons learned from these disaster drills can translate into saving lives.

FDNY Relaxes Inspection Policy

This is a real bad idea. The FDNY is relaxing its inspection of buildings that are being built or deconstructed - providing two different schedules depending on the height of the building.

In a Nov. 5 memo outlining the department's "guidelines" for inspecting buildings under construction or demolition, FDNY Operations Chief Patrick McNally told firefighters to inspect buildings taller than 75 feet every 15 days, and buildings under 75 feet every 30 days.

Those guidelines contradict city rules that require all buildings under construction - regardless of height - to be inspected by firefighters once every 15 days.

It's being done because the FDNY doesn't have the manpower to handle the current requirements.

Instead of relaxing the schedule, how about adding the manpower necessary to address a serious health and safety concern. This problem is all the more relevant considering that the death of two firefighters can be attributed in part to the lack of proper inspections of the Deutsche Bank building that would have discovered serious problems including non-working standpipes and flammable materials being used to cordon off areas for decontamination work on the stricken building.

Deutsche Bank Paperwork Revealed

Gothamist has the details, but the FDNY had better come up with a good explanation for why they first said that there wasn't a fire plan for the Deutsche Bank building when there was one. The fire plan also notes that regular inspections should be conducted to assure the operation of the fire control systems, but someone up the chain of command nixed those regular inspections.

Once again, it would appear that Commissioner Scoppetta should be on the hot seat for how and why Department recommendations for inspections were not carried out and the fire plan was not followed.

Embattled Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta said shortly after the inferno that the department had no pre-blaze plan when commanders sent more than 100 Bravest into the burning, toxic, vacant building being torn down near Ground Zero.

But what Scoppetta didn't mention was that more than 30 months before the fatal Aug. 18 fire, a high-ranking department official offered a step-by-step blueprint for fighting a fire in the cursed building - and even recommended a strict timetable for regular inspections.

First, "a ladder company officer and two members should leave the basement area and use the stairwell or elevator to travel to a floor below the location," Battalion Chief William Siegel wrote in a March 2005 memo to Division 1 Commander Richard Fuerch.

"The ladder company officer should conduct a search and evaluate what fire department units will be required."

That did not happen. Instead, dozens of firefighters lugging heavy equipment and hoses made their way up into the smoky maze of a building, only to discover they had no water to extinguish the fire.

Two firefighters were killed when they ran out of air and the fire went to seven alarms because of the difficulty in putting water on the fire. Both were buried last week, but the questions linger over how and why the Department ceased inspections in the building.

While the building had been inspected in 2005 by Battalion Chief Siegel and found to be in working order, he also noted the additional fire load represented by the heavy usage of plywood in the decontamination process. Questions over contamination appears to have played a role in why the Department stopped inspecting the building, but I wonder why no one followed the Chief's recommendation to have firefighters wear respirators while conducting their inspections to insure that the building's sprinklers and standpipes were operable.

Separately, questions continue to swirl around Bovis Lend Lease and its subcontractor, John Galt Co., on how they were conducting the deconstruction. One woman says that she quit because she wanted to use protective gear while working on the building:

"They told us they got rid of the asbestos, but as I'm digging, I'm thinking, 'How did they magically get rid of the asbestos, but still leave all this healthy dirt behind?'" said Rocos, 57, a tough-talking certified asbestos handler with haz-mat training.

After lunch the first day, Rocos came back to work wearing an asbestos mask. She said her Bovis Lend Lease supervisor was furious.

"He yelled, 'Helen! Take that mask off your face! You are spooking everybody, spooking the people from the medical examiner's office!'" Rocos recalled.

Staff from the medical examiner's office was overseeing the bone search as TV helicopters circled overhead filming the dust plumes.

"I said, 'No!' I said I doubted they could clean the asbestos on the roof and leave all this other dirt untouched. You had people picking through the dirt for bones, then getting up and eating a Dunkin' Donut, licking their fingers," she said. "It was insane."

Indeed.

At the same time, Fiterman Hall is scheduled to begin deconstruction this month. The building is to be decontaminated and demolished by PAL Environmental Safety Corp. of Long Island City. The company entered into contracts with the Dormitory Authority of NYS on behalf of CUNY. The demolition work will cost $187.5 million.

Pei Cobb Fried and Partners of New York City is designing the new Fiterman Hall, and renderings can be found here.

It's been reported before that there was a paucity of bidders in the demolition work for Deutsche Bank, and that pool will continue to shrink for purposes of letting a contract to finish the demolition. Indeed, the lack of bidders was how John Galt got the job via Bovis in the first place.

Did PAL pass on the work because of the size/scale of the building or were there other issues at play.

UPDATE:
Three officers have been relieved of their commands as a result of the preliminary investigation:

Mayor Bloomberg and the fire commissioner laid part of the blame on three officers who were responsible for overseeing the safety of the building and devising plans to fight any potential fires that consumed it. One of the men was Deputy Chief Richard Fuerch, who oversaw all fire operations south of 14th Street and had reportedly received a memo two years ago that included a recommendation that only one officer and two firefighters should initially be sent into the Deutsche Bank building if a fire broke out. Instead, on Aug. 18, more than 100 firefighters were sent into the building.

The other two men who were accused of lapses are Battalion Chief John McDonald, who was responsible for conducting inspections at the building, and Capt. Peter Bosco of Engine Company 10, who oversaw the engine companies. All of the men were relieved of their commands and reassigned to the department’s headquarters. None of them were at the scene of the fire on Aug. 18.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, as other officers are likely to be implicated. I also think that Commissioner Scoppetta needs to be held accountable as well for failing the rank and file.

Pallet Jack Blamed For Latest Injuries At Deutsche Bank Demolition

Two firefighters were hurt yesterday when a worker at the snakebit Deutsche Bank building lost control of a pallet jack on the 23rd story, and it crashed down onto a temporary shed.

A heavy piece of machinery plunged 23 stories off the cursed Deutsche Bank building yesterday, smashing a temporary shed and injuring two firefighters - one of them seriously - just days after two of New York’s Bravest died while battling a fierce blaze there.

A pallet jack fell from the 23rd floor of 130 Liberty St. shortly before 2 p.m., crashing down on a the shed in the safety perimeter around the structure, according to the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., which owns the building and has been on the hot seat since the fire.

Firefighter William Carbetis, 51, had his spleen removed last night at St. Vincent's Hospital. He also received 10 stitches to close a gash on his head. The 17-year veteran was listed in serious condition.

Firefighter Neil Nally, 35, a five-year vet, was treated for an injured neck, back and right hand. He was in stable condition.

The two firefighters work at Engine 258 near the Midtown Tunnel in Queens.

All work at the building has been halted. There had been workers scouring the building over the past week since the deadly fire to secure the facility, but work was also apparently continuing in the decontamination of the building.

John Galt Corp was dismissed from the job earlier this week, and Bovis Lend Lease is still the general contractor on the site. Bovis is one of the biggest construction firms in the country, and it should be remembered that the firm was one of two that responded to 9/11 and helped with the recovery efforts and clearing Ground Zero of the debris. It has also been involved in numerous other high profile jobs around the City including the TimeWarner Center, Bloomberg Building, and the Tweed Courthouse renovation. However, none of this excuses potential failures on the part of the corporation to oversee its subcontractor in this case.

UPDATE:
Even as the situation was unfolding at the Deutsche Bank building, a sea of blue formed to pay their respects to the supreme sacrifice made by Firefighter Joseph Graffagnino, who died in the fire that ripped through the building this past Saturday. Firefighter Robert Beddia will be laid to rest today after a funeral service at St. Patrick's Cathedral.

A Series of Unfortunate Events Caused FDNY Deaths

No one at the FDNY seems to know how or why the standpipes at Deutsche Bank were not tested for more than a year prior to the fire. No one at the FDNY seems to know why there wasn't a fire plan in place to deal with a possible fire at the building during deconstruction.

Steve Cassidy, head honcho of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, met with Fire Commissioner Nick Scoppetta and his staff on Monday and asked a simple question. Did the Fire Department have a pre-fire plan for this horror house, the Deutsche Bank?

"Amazingly, the Fire Department said they didn't know," said an incredulous spokesman, Tom Butler.

When asked if they would send firefighters in again if there happened to be another fire in that building and on the same floor, the department astoundingly said they don't know.

"They said they weren't sure," said Butler.

These are criminal oversights. Two firefighters paid with their lives for fighting a fire in a building when there was no way to fight the fire - sprinkers and standpipes were inoperative. Firefighters improvised a makeshift standpipe by running lines down the exterior of the building, but in the time it took to hook up that system, time ran out for Joe Graffagnino and Robert Beddia. Their air supplies ran out, and until the end, they relied on their training, including tracing their water lines back to attempt to back out of the maze of plywood and polyvinyl wrap used in the decontamination of floors at the building.

All the problems with the demolition work occurred even after supervisors of the work blew the whistle on unsafe conditions, and alcoholic beverages present within the building:

"The firefighters - they didn't stand a chance. They walked into a deathtrap, a booby trap a year or more in the making," said the 52-year-old asbestos-removal supervisor, who worked at the Ground Zero job site for a year.

The supervisor met with FDNY marshals Tuesday, telling them he saw a slew of safety violations in the toxic tower.

He said the 29th floor was casually known as "Teddy's Tavern" because of the vodka and other booze regularly consumed in that floor's decontamination unit, where men cleaned up and ate meals. The 29th floor has since been demolished.

The whistleblower also said work crews smoked heavily and ran live power lines along floors where asbestos removal was being done - a dangerous lapse.

He said the demolition subcontractor, John Galt Corp., hired one electrician to monitor 10 floors, instead of the required two per floor. He charged that some workers set up transformers on work floors and failed to safeguard the red-hot electrical generators.

Galt was hit with a "Notice of Default" yesterday from Bovis Lend Lease, the general contractor. The notice axed Galt from the project, citing numerous safety violations at the demolition site and "the failure to properly maintain all required site safety precautions."

The whistleblower worked at the job site from May 2006 until Memorial Day 2007, when he said he had a blowup with his boss at John Galt over an unpaid bonus. The whistleblower said he quit and took a better job.

The whistleblower also notes that the standpipes appeared to be in working order when he left, but it is possible that they were dismantled by Galt's workers to run compressed air through the system to power systems in the floors above.

The Post isn't mincing words. They want FDNY Commissioner Scoppetta to be fired, and want the tower to be brought down immediately. The former is more easily achieved, but the latter is in doubt because of ongoing concerns about contamination and safety within the building. Someone will need to be hired to finish the job started by John Galt Corp., the subcontractor for Bovis Lend Lease, since Galt was fired from the job yesterday. Another company will have to bid and move forward on the demolition work. That will take time, and I don't see how much Gov. Spitzer or Mayor Bloomberg can do to spur the process on, unless they're both willing to avoid a competitive bidding process to make time of the essence.

The Daily News echoes the Post's calls for FDNY brass to be fired. The failures by the FDNY to have a fire plan and inspections contributed to the deadly scenario.

UPDATE:
The Times runs through the corporate existence of the John Galt corporation, which is really an amalgamation of other corporate entities and appears to include corporate officers from a company that was previously kicked off the Deutsche Bank project.

UPDATE:
More injuries at Ground Zero - a new scaffolding collapse at Deutsche Bank has injured three people, including a firefighter who is in critical condition with possible head trauma.

Today marks the funeral for Joseph Graffagnino. Robert Beddia will be laid to rest tomorrow.

UPDATE:
More details on the collapsed scaffolding.

At least two firefighters were injured this afternoon when part of the scaffolding surrounding the Deutsche Bank building collapsed, hours after crews began doing remedial work on the building following Saturday’s deadly fire.

Fire officials say the collapse occurred shortly before 2 p.m., injuring at least two firefighters, who were transported to Saint Vincent's Hospital.

One firefighter is said to have suffered head injuries. Early reports indicated that several civilians, possibly construction workers were also injured, but the exact number and extent of the injuries is not yet known.

Residents who live near the building have been advised to keep their windows closed while remedial work is being performed.

Deutsche Bank Fire Investigators Continue Grim Work

The Deutsche Bank building deconstruction has been a long and painful process from the moment the World Trade Center was attacked by Islamic terrorists on 9/11. It took time to determine whether the building was structurally sound and while the building would be able to stand despite the serious damage, it was quickly discovered that the building was compromised by contamination from debris falling from the collapsing towers plus mold that had infested deep inside the building.

After years of haggling and trying to come to terms over what to do, the City, State, LMDC, PANY, and insurance companies were finally able to deal on Deutsche Bank last year, which set in motion the deconstruction. The deconstruction process was repeatedly delayed because of air quality concerns (necessitating all the additional plywood and plastic sheeting for controlling emissions from the building) and the discovery of hundreds of human remains despite claims that the building was indeed cleared of remains by law enforcement and the medical examiner's office.

The fire that started on Saturday killed two firefighters, and their funerals were scheduled for later this week:

Joe Graffagnino
Wake today and tomorrow, 2 p.m. to 5 p.m and 7p.m. to 10 p.m. at Andrew Torregrossa and Sons Funeral Home, 1305 79th St., Dyker Heights, Brooklyn. Funeral Mass Thursday 10a.m. at St. Ephrem's Church, 935 Bay Ridge Parkway.

Robert Beddia
Wake tomorrow and Thursday, 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Harmon Funeral Home, 571 Forest Ave., S.I. Funeral Mass Friday 9:45 a.m. at St. Patrick's Cathedral, 460 Madison Ave.

Investigators are looking at the standpipes that feed water into the building to fight fires. They've apparently found numerous problems with the standpipes, including a valve that wouldn't work in the basement, and even if firefighters had managed to get that valve working, broken pipes within the building would have prevented its use.

Investigators have found that a standpipe valve between the basement and the first floor of the former Deutsche Bank building was shut, effectively cutting off the only source of water for firefighters battling last Saturday’s blaze on the upper floors of the high-rise, according to fire officials.

But even if the valve had been open, water would never have reached it because the network of pipes that is supposed to deliver water from fire trucks on the street to the standpipe system was also compromised, with several breaks in it, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Fire officials said a piece of the standpipe system was missing altogether. The piece was found next to the pipe.

Gothamist has more.

The contractors on the job, Bovis Lend Lease, and its subcontractor, John Galt, could face criminally negligent homicide charges as a result of the fire and all the problems with the building.

If you think the situation with the Deutsche Bank is bad - and it truly is tragic, consider that CUNY's Fiterman Hall remains just as it was shortly after 9/11 - badly damaged from the collapse of 7WTC and in need of demolition while no action has been taken to do so. At least they had begun the process of demolishing Deutsche Bank - they had taken the 40 story building down to 26 floors and were able to demolish one floor every four days.

They may still be able to finish the demolition by the end of the year, but they better figure out why the standpipes were not functioning and why deconstruction was able to continue despite that fact. Work on the building has been halted while investigators try to piece together what happened and why the standpipes were not functional.

UPDATE:
The Post's editorial page slams the FDNY, city and state officials, and the contractors for the mess at Deutsche Bank. They want to know why firefighters were sent into the building with inadequate water supplies.

UPDATE:
There is finally some action on Fiterman Hall demolition. The building will finally be razed to make way for a new CUNY building to be designed by IM Pei's architectural firm.

Located adjacent to 7 WTC, the Borough of Manhattan Community College’s 15-story academic building was partially destroyed on 9/11 and contaminated by mold and debris from the twin towers. The college has retained the architectural firm of Pei, Cobb & Freed to design a new 400,000-square-foot building, which will house classrooms, faculty offices, a café, art gallery, computer labs, and student lounge space.

Following two years of insurance claims negotiation, the construction manager selected to clean and deconstruct Fiterman Hall submitted scaffolding and revised remediation plans to the EPA in January. Since then, a new sidewalk bridge has been installed and air monitors are being placed in advance of the pending remediation and deconstruction of the Fiterman Hall, which should begin in August 2007. Once the EPA approves project plans, the multi-stage cleaning and deconstruction plan will commence. This is expected to last 10 to 12 months. First, the construction manager will replace the existing post-9/11 scaffolding and netting, retest the building’s exterior for contaminants, and re-clean where necessary. Next the building’s interior will be sealed off, cleaned and emptied in three-floor segments, followed by cleaning of the roof.

I hope that the Fiterman demolition team learns from what happened with the Deutsche Bank building and makes safety a priority and ensures that fire suppression systems are fully operable throughout the demolition process.

Deconstructing the Deconstruction Woes At Deutsche Bank

The post-mortem of the deadly fire at the Deutsche Bank building at Ground Zero is focusing on several issues, including the inability to use standpipes and the manner in which the Bovis Lend Lease subcontractor, John Galt, had subdivided areas in the building floors to abate hazardous materials, but which also could have easily disoriented firefighters and trapped them in and among hazardous conditions.

Containment areas of plywood and thick plastic sheeting meant to keep in potentially dangerous particles sucked in air, fanning flames. Plywood that had replaced windows on the upper floors can be seen burning in photographs.

Flames got around and under the firefighters who died, Robert Beddia, 53, and Joseph Graffagnino, 33. A voice believed to be that of Firefighter Beddia was heard on a radio transmission saying he had run out of air and was trying to follow his hose out. It may have been his last transmission.

“There were problems getting water on the fire,” one official said. “They are trapped and they run out of air because of how rapidly the conditions change, and now they have no refuge and they cannot get out. They now cannot see and they have no air.”

Gov. Eliot Spitzer and the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, which owns the building, promised investigations, and an official with the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration said the agency had cited the John Galt Corporation, the subcontractor doing the demolition, for 20 serious violations at the building. At the same time, officials said that tests had revealed that the air around the building was clear of asbestos, but that it would take several days for results of tests for other contaminants.

Residents in the area expressed an array of frustrations.

“You’d think that after six years, we would have learned something, but when this fire broke out, there was no notification system in place, and the people who live around here didn’t know what to do,” said Patricia L. Moore, who lives at 125 Cedar Street, in the shadow of the burned building. “Some of us left the building and some of us stayed, but we’re all concerned.”

Avi Schick, the chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, said the fire was “a perfect storm of misfortune that worked together to turn what is, under any circumstance, a hazardous situation into something that was perhaps even more treacherous.”

Mr. Schick said the mechanism to ensure negative air pressure within the containment areas might have worsened conditions by bringing in a supply of outside air that wound up feeding the flames and by drawing smoke across the floor without fully venting it, since the exhausts have filters designed to trap particles in the air.

“It’s likely that the very measures that were insisted upon by the E.P.A. to protect those on the outside had a less than salutary effect when the fire started, because there were too many pulls on the oxygen,” Mr. Schick said. “And the firefighters paid the ultimate price.” Officials said the fire would delay the dismantling of the building by about three weeks.

The building became a house of horrors, and the decontamination systems in place fanned the flames by using negative pressure to keep the building's contaminants inside the confined spaces.

The last calls from the trapped firefighters showed that they knew that things were going to get real bad real quick. They were disoriented and knew that their air supply was going to run out.

"Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! Engine 24 standing by!" a voice on the fire radio yelled. "I'm lost. I'm trying to make it on the charged hose line. Running out of air!" came a frantic call.

The radio transmissions - obtained by the Daily News - chronicled firefighters' growing desperation as they fought Saturday's blaze in a skyscraper devastated by the Sept. 11 attacks.

"I'm not sure which side we're on - but we're blowing windows out - we're outta air," a firefighter radioed to crews below.

In the background comes a fainter voice telling more ominous news: "The firemen on the 14th floor, they're screaming for help. They can't get to them."

Meanwhile residents nearby aren't entirely comforted by the initial air quality test results, noting that the same was said in the aftermath of the collapse of the towers on 9/11 and that proved to be untrue.

Deutsche Bank Building Fire Claims Two Firefighters

The snakebit Deutsche Bank building continues to claim lives. Two firefighters who were trying to put out a stubborn fire that started late yesterday and involved 10 floors of the building were killed when they became trapped in a maze of construction materials and their air supply ran out. Robert Beddia, 53, and Joseph Graffagnino, 33, were killed. My thoughts and prayers go out to their families, friends, and fellow firefighters.

The building, at 130 Liberty Street, had stood as a ghost since parts of the twin towers crashed into it, leaving it severely damaged and filled with toxic debris, including asbestos, dioxin, lead and chromium. For residents nearby, the acrid smoke brought back memories of the grim dust clouds that lingered after the attacks.

The demolition work created difficulties for firefighters trying to reach and put out the blaze, which started on the 17th floor, allowing the fire to mushroom out of control, fire officials said. The building did not have a working standpipe, which runs through high-rise buildings to provide a source of water for firefighters.

It was “a truly difficult fire,” Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta said. “We had to lift lines from the street, with ropes in order to get it up to the 17th floor.”

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said the building was structurally sound and not in danger of collapsing. He also said preliminary air-quality tests showed an increase in particulate matter but no hazardous contaminants, though he warned that results of more complete tests would not be available until this morning.

“Air quality and the environmental impact, as you might imagine, are a top concern to us and we are monitoring the situation very closely,” the mayor said at a news conference last night.

All civilians working in the building got out unharmed when the fire was reported at 3:36 p.m. There were no evacuations of adjacent buildings, the mayor said.

Mary Costello, a spokeswoman for Bovis Lend Lease, the construction company in charge of the building’s dismantling, deferred all comments to the Fire Department.

The cause of the fire was under investigation, though officials ruled out acetylene torches, which were not in use Saturday by workers dismantling the building. Investigators are looking into whether the fire was started by a worker smoking, an official said.

The two firefighters became trapped in the building and died of what appeared to be cardiac arrest resulting from exposure to carbon monoxide, Mr. Bloomberg said. They were Joseph Graffagnino, 33, of Brooklyn, who had been with the department for eight years, and Robert Beddia, 53, of Staten Island. An official said he had been with the fire department 23 years and was the senior firefighter on the scene. They were taken to NYU Downtown Hospital, where they died.

Expect investigations to focus on the standpipe access and usability during the deconstruction efforts and whether new guidelines and rules may need to be put in place to ensure that those systems operate throughout the construction and deconstruction process.

Inspectors are looking at whether a discarded cigarette may have touched off the fire among combustible materials being used in the deconstruction process.

Many people living in Battery Park City and nearby residential buildings thought back to the awful day on 9/11/2001 when the overpowering smoke filled Lower Manhattan and the smells brought back a powerful reminder of that day. City health officials have said that the air quality monitors did not find any releases of harmful materials. A few people weren't taking any chances and were wearing fabric face masks to try and block the smell, though I doubt that those kinds of masks would do anything to block out harmful particles if any had indeed been released.

Gothamist has more.

Deutsche Bank Building Snakebit: 4 5 Alarm Fire Reported

A now-five alarm fire was reported a short time ago at the snakebit Deutshce Bank building, which is currently being deconstructed by Bovis Lend Lease.

A four-alarm fire in the abandoned Deustche Bank skyscraper sent a plume of gray smoke trailing above ground zero Saturday afternoon as firetrucks and police cars raced through lower Manhattan to reach a building already decimated by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The tower, left vacant since 9/11 turned it into a toxic nightmare, had flames on multiple floors, according to the Fire Department. Construction crews had already dismantled 14 of the building's 40 stories, reaching the 26th floor on Tuesday.

The cause of the fire was unknown, but smoke pouring from the burning building was visible from midtown Manhattan and the New Jersey side of the Hudson River. NYU Downtown Hospital reported its emergency room was treating at least one patient brought in from the blaze.

The acrid smell of smoke, which hung over the neighborhood for days after Sept. 11, returned to lower Manhattan along with the wail of emergency vehicles.

The building at 130 Liberty St. has become a constant headache for redevelopers in the nearly six years since the attacks. The 1.4 million square foot office tower stood as a downtown Manhattan eyesore, contaminated with toxic dust and debris after the World Trade Center's south tower collapsed into it.

This building has been a thorn in the side of developers ever since it was badly damaged by the collapsing WTC complex on 9/11. The facade was devastated by the collapsing WTC Twin Towers and its structural integrity was badly compromised. Even worse, it was heavily contaminated by debris and it was determined that the building would need to be deconstructed. Hundreds of human remains have been discovered at the site.

My previous coverage of the Deutsche Bank building deconstruction can be found here only yesterday.

Two firefighters are seriously injured fighting the fire, which is involving the scaffolding and plywood that has replaced windows in the floors. West Street and Church street are being closed to traffic.

NYC Steam Explosion Updates

Yesterday's steam pipe explosion in Midtown Manhattan at 41st and Lexington left quite a few people shaken as some of the images evoked scenes from 9/11. One person was killed, two people, including the driver of the tow truck that is seen sitting in the crater left by the explosion, are in critical condition with serious burns, and about two dozen others were injured.

The critical jobs at this point are to clean up the scene and reopen the street to traffic. Those jobs will be slowed because tests of ground samples around the vicinity of the explosion showed asbestos.

Eight air samples in the area around the explosion found no sign of asbestos, but six of 10 samples of debris and dust came back positive, the emergency-management agency said Thursday. Residents in the area were to keep windows closed, and anyone exposed to the falling debris was instructed to wash carefully and isolate the clothing they were wearing in plastic bags.

City engineers warned that up to six feet surrounding the giant hole might be in danger of further collapse, and officials said workers would not be allowed into office buildings in a zone that covered several blocks. The Buildings Department determined late Wednesday that nearby buildings were structurally sound but some had suffered water damage and broken windows.

Air samples have not found asbestos in the air, although the City is still warning people that if they live in nearby buildings and did not leave, they should set their air conditioners to recirculate so as to avoid drawing in outside air. If people have left the cordoned off area, they will not be allowed to return until the all clear is given.

Gothamist, in the course of its wall to wall coverage, wonders whether the situation could have been avoidable. Besides routine maintenance and upgrading existing infrastructure? Well, one reader notes that there was quite a bit of utility work in the vicinity.

The NYT has a map of the vicinity and basic layout of a typical steam pipe utility setup.

Once again, a serious incident involving energy infrastructure shows the creaky nature of our infrastructure and the thin line between reliable service and a major incident. Expect Con Ed to be called on the carpet once again for its service, response, and maintenance of the system. Con Ed says that they checked the vicinity earlier in the day as part of their regular maintenance following a heavy rain but found no problems:

Con Edison head Kevin Burke said the site had been inspected hours before the blast as part of a routine response to heavy rain that flooded parts of the city. He said crews had found nothing as they searched for steam rising from manhole covers or cracks in the street - indications that pipes could be in jeopardy. The steam systems are normally inspected every six weeks.

I'll also refer people to what happened in 1989, when another steam pipe explosion in the Gramercy Park section of Manhattan that killed three people and wounded 24. Then, the authorities said that the situation was all clear, only to reverse themsevles days later as samples showed elevated levels of asbestos. It was then predicted it would take at least four weeks to clean up the mess. Lawsuits flew about furiously after that incident, and Con Ed later admitted to engaging in a coverup of the seriousness of the asbestos contamination. Con Ed was subjected to federal monitoring to ensure compliance with federal environmental regulations following that incident.

It will take time to sort out the cause of the explosion and engage in the cleanup, so we'll see how things develop.

UPDATE:
Via Con Ed:

The New York City Department of Health (DOH) has a fact sheet that provides additional information about asbestos. Visit the DOH Web site for more information by clicking on the following link: http://home2.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/ei/eiasbest.shtml.

Approximately 400 specially trained Con Edison employees and certified contractors, in conjunction with the NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), worked through the night: performing tests on muddy debris and monitoring the air. Together with the DEP, the company has developed a comprehensive plan to remove muddy debris from buildings, streets and vehicles.

Crews also cleaned muddy debris from Third Avenue between 40th and 42nd Streets. The company is working to restore service to electric feeder cables and is running temporary cables. In addition, crews excavated and inspected the gas system for possible damage. Fire trucks that responded to the event were decontaminated.

Con Ed is also asking energy consumers in the area to reduce demand.

The New York City Office of Emergency Management has also issued a statement on the situation, which details the steps being taken, the frozen zones, and traffic related issues. However, it doesn't give a timeframe for when they expect people to be able to move freely into the frozen area or when repairs will be completed.

UPDATE:
Where some see just steam and smoke, others see something far more sinister - a Bush conspiracy. Nutters.

UPDATE:
Was human error to blame? Well, CBS News has been talking with someone who is familiar with the NYC steam distribution system and he thinks that human error might have played a role, especially since there are also indications that there was repair work in the vicinity just a month ago. Midtown businesses in the vicinity will certainly be affected for the short term - several days at least. I think Monday is a possibility, though it depends on how extensive the asbestos contamination is.

Of course we're going to see reports about the creaky infrastructure and there are going to be questions asked about how the various systems are maintained and whether we're spending enough - short answer is absolutely not overall. The long answer is that it depends on which part of the infrastructure and where in the country we're talking about.

And for those who are calling for the utility to fix things, are those same people going to complain when the utility calls for rate hikes to cover the additional costs of doing that work, or complain about the inconvenience and hassles due to traffic jams because utility work has torn up streets, reduced parking, or limited access to businesses? Count on it.

The sad truth is that this system, along with other energy distribution systems around the country, mass transit, highways, and the air traffic system all need serious investment to assure a safe, efficient, and reliable system. No one wants to tackle these issues, and in many instances, the utility infrastructure is privately owned and operated.

Breaking: Steam Explosion in Midtown Manhattan

There was an explosion and what now appears to be a major steam pipe burst that is causing an ongoing release of steam and smoke. It occurred at 41st Street and Lexington Avenue, and the immediate vicinity has been evacuated. A water main may have also been severed with geysers of water spewing into the air along with mud.

I'm going to go out on a limb and note that prior steam explosions of this nature have resulted in asbestos contamination, and it is possible that we might encounter a similar situation.

There are unconfirmed reports of injuries, and there are two wrecked vehicles right where the street has buckled and the steam is pouring out. Additional fire and emergency units have been pouring into the area.

UPDATE:
WCBS880 has a live news feed.

Gothamist is also keeping tabs on the situation.

As for the possibility of an asbestos release due to a steam explosion, a similar incident occurred in 1989. That incident killed three people, wounded 24, and caused widespread damage and contamination from asbestos. Thus far, today's incident does not appear to have caused serious casualties. I hope that proves to be the case.

UPDATE:
4, 5, and 6 trains are bypassing Grand Central Station and traffic disruptions through the area are significant.

Many buildings in Manhattan are served by steam pipes to provide heating and cooling, so that explains why there are even steam pipes. If you've ever walked through the City as a tourist and wondered why there are pipes channeling steam into the sky, that's the reason. It is quite possible that a leak in the pipe, combined with heavy rains, could have caused a flash explosion - the liquid water instantly vaporizing and expanding at a tremendous rate causing an explosion.

UPDATE:
Con Ed has a page dedicated to the steam services it provides. From their FAQ:

The Con Edison Steam Operations is ready to offer you rates competitive with those of alternative sources of energy. Contact us to ask about a negotiated agreement to keep your energy costs down.

We also have an air-conditioning program available for large steam customers. The company already supplies 700,000 tons of steam air conditioning (A/C) load. We offer a reduction of $2.00 per thousand pounds from our summer rate for usage in excess of the first 50,000 pounds of steam for residential customers and the first 250,000 pounds of steam for commercial customers. The city and your business receive an added benefit because our existing steam air conditioning customers reduce the summer electric peak load by approximately 400 megawatts.

Reliable
Con Edison's Steam Operations is committed to providing highly reliable steam service. With an installed capacity of about 13 million pounds per hour, Con Edison maintains the steam production capability to meet forecasted heating and cooling peak loads, plus reserve to cover equipment outages. Our capacity comprises three steam-electric stations, four steam-only stations, and capacity supplied under a long-term contract with the Brooklyn Navy Yard Cogeneration Partners.

UPDATE:
Trains in Grand Central itself are running, but getting to Grand Central is going to be tough. Authorities are letting people into Grand Central through the North End Access (Madison and 47th) but other entrances are closed.

UPDATE:
The NYT is covering the incident here.

UPDATE:
Photos of the incident as they're coming in via Flickr.

UPDATE:
Con Ed can't cut the steam off all at once, because that could risk additional explosions elsewhere in the system. So, they've got to slowly cut off the affected area. It will take some time before the incident is under control.

UPDATE:
Curbed is also running updates.

UPDATE:
ABC News is reporting only six injuries in the incident. Considering the circumstances, we're real lucky.

UPDATE:
Other reports are now indicating about 12 injured, but none life threatening. Air quality is now being stressed as a concern - emergency personnel are telling people to stay away from the vicinity. NY Nana at LGF reports that asbestos is a concern, which is just as I had initially suspected.

UPDATE:
The steam has slackened off considerably, and you can now see through the affected area. Many people in the area, including Con Ed and other emergency personnel are not wearing respirators or other breathing apparatus, so if there is a concern about air quality, it's still up in the air literally.

Bill Ritter on ABC is continuing to talk about the structural integrity of nearby buildings. I suspect that the Transportation Department will need to completely rebuild the affected area and utilities will be disrupted.

A vehicle appears to be in the crater, which itself is at least 2-3 lanes wide and just as long.

That video is via Gothamist.

ABC is telling people that if you were in the vicinity of the explosion, you should throw out your clothes and shower.

UPDATE:
People who live in the immediate vicinity of the explosion will probably be out of their homes for the near future - both out of the immediate concern of structural damage to those buildings, and because of possible contamination by asbestos.

Also, I checked in with Legalbgl who noted that from his vantage on the East Side that it instantly reminded him of 9/11, and Ground Zero after the attacks. He's not the only person to make that kind of remark - as many of the news reports are commenting on the increased scrutiny over the air quality that comes as a direct result of what happened on 9/11 and the resulting cleanup and recovery operations.

UPDATE:
More video footage here. Con Ed is on the scene, and it also looks like they're starting to evaluate the situation. Con Ed hasn't found any problems with the electrical system right now, and testing is underway for asbestos - that will take a few hours for a definitive answer. Crews are taking no chances and the Con Ed spokesperson is saying that their workers are wearing protective gear as a precaution and people should not be in the area until the test results come back.

No word as yet as to the source of the explosion. They'll be checking nearby equipment for collateral damage as well. There is no electrical outage at this time.

UPDATE:
Bloomberg presser underway at 8:21 EDT. He says that at 5:57 that an explosion was reported at 41st and Lex. No reason to believe anything other than it was an infrastructure failure - no terrorism or criminality. A 24-inch steam pipe, installed in 1924, failed. Most likely cause of failure - cold water getting into the pipe.

The presser has been interrupted by sirens in the background.

UPDATE:
Presser back underway, as he repeats prior information, 1 person died of cardiac arrest at Bellvue Hospital, and about 20 people injured. Verizon has lost some phone service. No word on when street closures will be lifted.

The City will assume that there was an asbestos release. The cleanup will depend on what the tests find. There will be a frozen zone centered on the incident location, which will be adjusted as necessary. Tests will continue and the City does not know what is actually in the air.

UPDATE:
Ed Driscoll also weighs in with coverage and notes the creaky infrastructure in the City.

UPDATE:
NBC News is reporting that if you were in the vicinity of the explosion, you should wash yourself thoroughly and place your clothes in a plastic bag for later testing if the City's tests reveal that asbestos was emitted in the course of the incident.

UPDATE:
Dan Riehl makes an interesting observation. There are more people taking photos and video of the incident than actual journalists covering the situation. Some of those folks have already uploaded their photos as noted by the Flickr link above.

UPDATE:
The NYT notes that those buried steam pipes are a hidden hazard. We get that reminder every decade or so when one of these pipes explodes into our consciousness. Some utilities buried underground in some parts of Manhattan are not even mapped, and since 9/11 there has been an effort to map out where utilities are in Manhattan because of the need to install new systems - fiber optic links for telcom and upgraded services. Knowing where things are buried is crucial to avoid nasty surprises.

Business Week has more.