New York Steps Up Transit Security

New York officials are stepping up security on the city’s mass transit system due to what officials called a specific threat of a bombing on the subway.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly announced new security measures Thursday. Kelly said uniformed and plainclothes officers would be present in larger numbers and there would be more searches of passengers’ bags and packages.

These and other measures will continue until further notice, said Kelly.

Mark Mershon, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York office, said the threat was specific and detailed.

The encouraging news is that classified operations have in fact partially disrupted this threat, said Mershon, who would not explain what he meant by partially disrupted because the details of the threat and the response to it are classified.

CNN reported a raid in a town near Baghdad Wednesday that resulted in the arrests of several al-Qaida operatives was based on the intelligence that led New York authorities to increase mass transit security.

Kelly said the system would continue to operate, and the public could decide for itself whether to use it.

I’ve looked at the information and I’m going to take the subway, Bloomberg said.