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 New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de
Blasio each had the same idea - take a subway ride to a busy transit
hub to announce that everything was under control.
"I have a simple message for all New Yorkers. There is no immediate
credible threat to our subway system," de Blasio said at a hastily
arranged news conference at Manhattan's Union Square where he
arrived by subway from City Hall.
A few minutes earlier, and a few blocks away, the governor staged
his appearance by taking a subway to Penn Station, a major rail
terminal.
"You are going to see a greater police presence than you have seen
before," Cuomo said. "Don’t be alarmed. If anything, that should be
comforting."
While the newest threat was unsubstantiated, the added police
presence was a precaution, said New York Police Commissioner William
Bratton, who appeared alongside the mayor.
 Their public reassurances were reminiscent of pronouncements by
former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani when New Yorkers, devastated by the
Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center, were fearful of
further devastation to the city.
The security concerns arose after Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi
said Iraq had received what he termed credible intelligence that
Islamic State militants planned to attack subway systems in Paris
and the United States.
Senior U.S. and French officials promptly said they had no evidence
to back up the claim. Abadi made his remarks while in New York for
the annual meeting of the U.N. General Assembly.
Extra police patrolled among crowds of commuters and tourists
dragging luggage through busy subway hubs and at Penn Station and
the Port Authority Bus Terminal during the evening rush hour.
Uniformed officers, several with explosive-sniffing dogs, were
stationed every few hundred yards, with tables set up to conduct
random bag searches.
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New Yorker Richard Betancourt, 64, gave a thumps-up to a group of
police officers keeping watch at a 42nd Street subway.
"They'd be stupid not to go for it," he said of the visible security
presence. "New York is the No. 1 target."
"It's something that these nut jobs might see, and then they'll
think twice before they do anything, if they have any brains," he
said.
The police commissioner said security would be added throughout the
city, with heavily armed teams of counter-terror police, stepped-up
searches and coordination with private security workers.
Additional security was planned for Yankee Stadium, where baseball
star Derek Jeter was to play his last home game before retiring at
the end of the season.
Cuomo said authorities already had boosted security in response to
potential threats from Islamic State and other militant groups. The
New York governor, together with his New Jersey counterpart, Chris
Christie, announced a bi-state initiative to that end on Wednesday.
(Additional reporting by Frank McGurty; Editing by Ken Wills)
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