Daily News Coverage of the Press conference across the street from the Court House FEb. 6 2010

Residents protest holding 9/11 terror trial of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed in New York

BY CELESTE KATZ please write to celeste katz (her email at the bottom of this article) to let her know what you think of this article
DAILY NEWS POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT

Saturday, February 6th 2010, 4:00 AM

Warga/News

Protesters rail agains rholding 9/11 terror trial of alleged mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed in New York.

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Lower Manhattan residents will feel they're "living in a war zone" - again - if the 9/11 terror trials are held there, protesters said Friday.

As debate continues over where to try alleged terror mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, neighbors of the federal courthouse urged the Obama administration to take the trial - and the potential risk and heavy security it would entail - somewhere else.

The Justice Department is looking at other options because New York officials complained strenuously about the disruption and security costs.

Some residents said having the trial here would punish those who chose not to flee New York after the 2001 attacks.

Jeanie Chin of the Civic Center Residents Coalition said the area is already coping with added security and surveillance since the attacks.

"[We] suffered the street shutdowns, lockdowns, rerouting of traffic, bomb-sniffing dogs on our corner," Chin said. "The true cost of the terror trials is going to be [placed] on the backs of the people who live and work in lower Manhattan."

After 9/11, "I never felt so scared in my life," said Toby Turkel, a 30-year resident who lives in the Chatham Towers highrise near the courthouse. "We lived through it. We breathed it. We tasted it. ... To do this just exacerbates the situation."

Marc Ameruso of Community Board 1, a Naval Reservist who volunteered at the twin towers site, questioned what's taking so long to place the trial.

"It's just amateur hour at the White House," he said. "Just make a decision. Tell us it's not going to be in New York [and] we'll all be happy."

ckatz@nydailynews.com

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/02/06/2010-02-06_residents_protest_holding_911_terror_trial_of_khalid_shaikh_mohammed_in_new_york.html#ixzz0emWuxOD0

Chinese media news coverage of the press conference on Friday Feb. 6th 2010

click image to enlarge

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

Civic Center Residents Coalition and neighbors of the terror trial Moynihan Courthouse - send their message to Dept. Of Justice and President Obama - MOVE THESE TERROR TRIALS

Residents of Chinatown and the Civic Center in Lower Manhattan oppose being

"hard zone prisoners" if the terror trials move in NEXT DOOR.

On Friday February 5, 2010

over 50 residents of Chinatown and the Civic Center - next door neighbors of the U.S. Federal court house -- where the Department of Justice and Attorney General Eric Holder proposed to have the terrorist trials, protested loudly and declared "MOVE THESE TRIALS"

Geoff Lee (left) says "so long as placard parking exists we're unprotected, remember the white van at Times Square? That was left alone for two days because it had a fake placard, Chinatown is inundated with the same problem already".

9/11 Terror Trials Will Create War Zone in

Lower Manhattan

The Civic Center Residents Coalition believes the 9/11 terror trials should "not be held in anyone's backyard" - having lived through the post 9/11 street closures/lockdowns/checkpoints that thousands still live with today, residents rally to move the terror trials.

The decision to move dangerous 9/11 terrorists from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to Worth Street for trial was not carefully thought out and lacked comprehensive evaluation of the logistics, failed to consult with local authorities and communities, vastly underestimated the security costs that could easily exceed $1 billion and overlooks the human toll on courthouse neighbors. Holding the terror trials in the city must be “taken off the table” immediately.

Political ideologues identify us as suffering from a case of “nimby (not in my back yard).” We suffer from “oimby” (only in my back yard). Since 2001 we are the only post 9/11 community in Manhattan still suffering from the “chokehold” of massive street shutdowns, security checkpoints, rerouting of traffic and bus routes, invasive government permit parking abuse requiring an NYPD internal affairs crackdown, takeaway of parks that were returnedonly after lawsuits, bomb sniffing dogs on our street corner and clanging barricades under our windows.

Patricia Tsia , executive representative of Lin Sing Association, 110 year old family organization with deep roots in the Chinatown community at 47 Mott street.

We are the only residential community now faced with having our neighborhood imprisoned behind a “hard” and “soft” security zone. Here are a few of the intensive security measures presented by Police Commissioner Kelly last week. Our streets and air space would be patrolled for years by:

Community Board 1 Marc Ameruso (right), co author of the original "move the trials to Govenor's Island" resolution.

• ATLAS, Hercules, Special Operations, Armored Assault, Office of Emergency Management, and other armed, specialized security teams
• 2000 metal barricades completely restricting vehicles and pedestrians from Chatham Square to Broadway on Worth
• License plate readers for the entire soft zone,
• Surveillance towers with 24/7 video of all citizens
• Additional vehicle check points with DELTA barriers
• Helicopters “aerial surveillance”

Vinnie Imbrosciano (right) - Chatham Towers resident, a neighbor of the court house where the terror trials will be held if the Dept. of Justice doesn't find a suitable alternate location.

For pedestrians inside the soft zone:

• Random pat downs of anyone at any time (we assume this would include mourners/hearse/coffins of the three funeral homes across from the courthouse)
• Random bag searches of anyone at any time (including backpacks of children attending after school programs across the street or playing in the one of the busiest playgrounds in Manhattan)
• I.D check of anyone at any time
• Radiation and bio-terrorism detection surveillance
• Pop up check points for all three - pat down, ID check and bag search at different locations
• Many signs to instruct GOVERNMENT workers where to enter the zone according to occupation and building of employment
• Sharp shooters both Federal and NYPD located on government buildings and residential buildings throughout the two zones
• Bomb sniffing dogs
• "Conspicuous NYPD presence at all times"

Councilperson Margaret Chin - Coauthored a resolution to permanently remove the terror trials out of her district.

The true cost of the terror trials would be borne by tens of thousands of innocent Lower Manhattan residents and hundreds of small business and property owners who would risk living in an armed camp under rooftop sharpshooters. These are people who did not bow to terrorism and chose to stay after 9/11. Ironically we are now being accused of NOT BEING TOUGH enough to “show the world” the U.S. terror trials can be held here safely – How many years would we have to live in a war zone - three, four, five? Would that be justice for all of us who live in
Lower Manhattan?

Eric Holder: Terror Trials “Off the Table” in New York City!

Gov. Mike Huckabee with Cb1 Chair Julie Menin And Civic Center Residents Coalition Jan Lee - National Coverage on "The Huckabee Show"

CLICK THIS LINK TO WATCH VIDEO

Congresswoman Nydia Valazquez issues a letter of opposition to the Terror Trials in NYC !!!

For Immediate Release                                                     CONTACT:  Alex Haurek; Gail O’Connor Ribas
January 27, 2010                                                                                     (202) 226-3636                            

               

Velázquez Urges DOJ to Relocate Terror Trials

Washington, DC – U.S. Representative Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) has sent the following letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder calling on him to reconsider holding the trials for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other terrorist defendants in Lower Manhattan’s federal courthouse.   

Below is the text of the letter:

  January 27, 2010

The Honorable Eric H. Holder, Jr.

Attorney General of the United States

Department of Justice

950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC  20530

Dear Attorney General Holder:

As you know, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently proposed trying Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and several other co-defendants in the federal courthouse in Lower Manhattan.  I am alarmed by the current proposal and its potential impact on the daily lives of neighborhood residents, as well as commercial activity, in an area that has already been subjected to enhanced security since 9/11.  I implore you to reconsider trying these high profile terrorists in Lower Manhattan. 

Considering the implications that a Lower Manhattan trial would have on the lives of residents and the health of businesses in the neighborhood, I do not believe that the needs of this community have been properly taken into account.  Community Board 1 recently held a public hearing with more than 100 residents participating to voice their displeasure with the negative impact this would have on there lives.  The current plan would create a fortress-like perimeter around the courthouse.  Within this security zone lie two large residential buildings – Chatham Towers, a 240-unit building, and Chatham Green, with more than 400 units. For the length of the trial, life for the thousands of residents living in these two developments would be severely disrupted.  Their homes would be surrounded by metal barriers, vehicle access would be restricted, and a visible security presence would be felt by them continuously.  An untenable living situation would be imposed on these residents for several years without their consultation.

In addition, an increased police presence with random stops and searches, along with exacerbated traffic congestion, will deter many visitors from shopping in the area.  Such changes would have a profoundly negative impact on the fourth-largest business district in the country and it seems that the plan is being imposed without any economic analysis of what could be done to mitigate the impact on the community or the cost to local small businesses.  It should be noted that these businesses, which employ tens of thousands of people and are critical to the city’s economic vitality, have already suffered from restricted parking and access under current security plans. 

In conclusion, I believe the choice for a trial location has been made in an extremely shortsighted manner and I would respectfully request that you explore the possibilities of moving the trial to an alternate site. To begin correcting these problems, the Department of Justice must make itself available immediately to discuss the negative effects this trial will have on Lower Manhattan and to hear firsthand the community’s concerns.  This will ensure the public’s input is fairly considered during this process and that all potentially negative impacts of the trial’s location are thoroughly evaluated. 

I look forward to hearing from you and appreciate your attention to this important matter. 

Sincerely,

Nydia Velázquez

Member of Congress

Terror Trials in NYC - "not off the table" Gibbs, Dep. Attorney General

CLICK THIS IMAGE TO ENLARGE

note the proximity of the playground across the street

and the entrance to Chatham Towers

Pro-Terror Trial Proponents Still Don't "Get It"

Pro-Terror Trial Proponents still don't "get" the uproar over holding the terror trials "Out of Our Living Room Windows" (OOLRW) just yards away.  This is not a case of "Nimbyism," this is a case of life or death for a community that has already suffered nine years of devastation and disruption to lives and commerce. The area near the courthouse has still not fully recovered. The nearby World Trade Center is still under reconstruction.  If the terror trials are held here, we would live in "an armed camp" for three years or more.

We are grateful to our Community Board #1 leaders, city, state and federal elected officials, Police Commissioner Kelly and Mayor Bloomberg for reexamining and supporting the move of the terror trials out of New York City.  Here is why the terror trials must go --

  Debunking some Inconvenient Truths

We have sponsored terror trials at our Federal Courts before and we can do it again  

• Those who say this do not currently have bomb sniffing dogs on their street corner. Their streets and sidewalks were not shutdown, locked down and overrun by government permit parking commuters severely impacting and shuttering business. Their traffic and buses were not rerouted, parks taken away and returned only after lawsuits.  They did not have to pass through multiple security checkpoints just to get home. Their homes are not surrounded by security booths and clanging barricades. 
• The proposed intensified "hard” security zone of rooftop sharpshooters, 2000 metal barricades on the streets, hovering helicopters, thousands of prying cameras, identification and daily searches would be imposed upon residents, workers, visitors, vehicles and deliveries.
•  Worth Street in front of the courthouse is a critical interstate and interborough link to the Lower  Manhattan bridges and tunnel that would be locked down and would cause gridlock on surrounding streets.
•  Park Row, our community's main street was closed temporarily after 9/11 and remains closed to this day. Police Headquarters has already created a "chokehold" in Chinatown, the Civic Center and indeed all of Lower Manhattan where its shutdown of major streets and roadways severely increases traffic at rush hours and slows emergency service access.  Are more streets in the "hard" and "soft" zone" destined for a similar fate?   
•  Across from the courthouse are three funeral homes providing bereavement services for Chinese Americans along the eastern seaboard -- they will be checking the identity of all mourners, including the coffins and hearses of the dead at each service. 
•  In a community with many not fluent in English, misunderstandings could easily arise and have serious consequences.
•  Young children and their backpacks would be forced through security checks to attend after school programs at the church across the street. What will the long term effect be on their psyche?
•  Across from the courthouse is Columbus Park, one of the most heavily used children's playgrounds in Manhattan -- the city already investigated using parts of it to stage the media.
•  A block from the terror trial site, the DOT is planning a massive reconstruction of the Brooklyn Bridge where 5000 cars an hour will be rerouted through Chatham Square.  Chatham Square itself will be reconfigured and reconstructed along with a major Water Tunnel project for three years or more.  If Attorney General Eric Holder had checked first, this alone might have deterred his plan to hold the terror trials here.

The U.S. Federal Detention Center has an underground tunnel to safely transport the terrorists to the U.S. Federal Courthouse and therefore is the ideal place for the trials 

• Only considering how to keep the "accused" secure in moving them from prison to courthouse puts the surrounding neighbors and the whole city at risk.
• Why risk locating some of the most dangerous terrorists of the decade in the midst of Lower Manhattan’s dense residential area and in Chinatown, one of Manhattan's major tourist attractions?  This location is blocks from City Hall and the seat of government, blocks from the financial center of this nation, half a block from the Brooklyn Bridge, blocks from the World Trade Center, two blocks from lower Manhattan's only full service hospital, a massive subway system alongside the court, beneath Police Headquarters and the Municipal Building; and at the critical intersection of several interstate and interboro bridges and tunnels.   

We’ll hold the terror trials here if we are compensated by the federal government 

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and Mayor Bloomberg have said they were not consulted before the terror trials announcement.  Both have given escalating cost estimates to our federal government.  We fear this is a “rain dance” for a magic number.  Mayor Bloomberg now estimates the cost to be almost a billion dollars over four years.  Is this the best use of taxpayer dollars in a recession?  Remember Bin Laden's broadcast in 2004:  "We are continuing this policy in bleeding America to the point of bankruptcy....Every dollar of Al Qaeda defeated a million dollars, by the permission of Allah, besides the loss of a huge number of jobs."  Holding the terror trials in New York City is a bad idea at any cost. 

MOVE THE TERROR TRIALS FROM NEW YORK CITY!

CIVIC CENTER RESIDENTS COALITION

NY Metro Daily Newspaper covers residents that live NEXT to the Court house where the trials are to take place.

Foes of 9/11 trial ready to keep fighting

Downtown residents who started a grassroots movement against hosting the trial of suspected 9/11 plotters in Lower Manhattan were cautiously optimistic as federal officials consider alternatives. They pledged to continue their fight.

“People are fired up,” said Jeanie Chin, who lives in Chatham Towers next door to the federal courthouse at 500 Pearl Street. “They’re ready to hit the pavement. We’ve come too far to backtrack.”


When Chatham Towers tenants began protesting more than two months ago, the trial location appeared to be a fait accompli.  Concerns initially fell on deaf ears from Mayor Michael Bloomberg and others. Even Community Board 1 Chair Julie Menin supported holding the years-long trials downtown before penning a New York Times op-ed plea to move them to Governors Island.


Chin’s group wouldn’t relent even though they were up against the Obama administration — and “liberal Democrats” to boot.  They worked “around the clock” writing reports about the negative impact not only on their building, but on tourism for the entire area.
The Justice Department said it’s looking at alternative sites since Bloomberg,

Gov. David Paterson and the real estate industry have complained.
Some reports yesterday claimed a New York trial had been ruled out.

But Gary Grindler, incoming acting deputy attorney general, told reporters yesterday that a trial here is “not off the table.”


“President Obama was a community organizer,” Chin said. “He needs to respect this process.” 

AMY ZIMMERAMY ZIMMER   METRO

Chatham Green Co-op complex on the Terror Trials - Board Of Directors - Rich Scorce

Appeared in Downtown Express, Letters to the Editors, February 2010

“Trial’s a Goner”

That was the headline on the NY Daily News that got my attention. While I am a doubting Thomas and will believe it when I see it, I think some kudos are in order for the GRASSROOTS movement that got this issue to the forefront.

We are grateful to the members of the Civic Center Residents Coalition (CCRC) who have been at the forefront on this issue (along with re opening Park Row & fighting the Chatham Square Reconstruction Project.)

They organized, got the issue before Community Board 1, lobbied, brought in the Chinatown business community & local leaders, and kept the issue in the press. Only after the local politicians, who blindly supported the Obama decision to hold the trial here, saw the tide turning did they reevalutate their positions.

Now we have our “brave” local politicos coming out of the woodwork trampling over each other to get some of the credit. The writing on the wall and the result of the Massachusetts election is what really spurred them to rethink their positions. The same thing can and will happen in NY if they do not represent their constituents.

Don't take our votes for granted!

Again, much thanks to the CCRC for leading the effort to prevent our neighborhood from being under siege by police, press, demonstrators and assorted mayhem.

Rich Scorce

Board Member, Chatham Green

WNYC - CCRC Danny Chen voices his opinions on the "still not dead" idea of holding the trials in Chinatown

Arun Venugapol of WNYC reports from Chinatown about a healthy dose of pessimism from Chinatown residents about the terror trials relocated from their area. click this link 

News that the Obama administration may move the 9/11 terror trials out of downtown...has encouraged many local residents.  Danny Chen's family has lived in the area since the early '60s.  He says an intense securitypresence wouldn't necessarily ensure safe streets.

CHEN: Lockdown doesn't mean safe, right? Because you can die from a terrorist bomb, or you can die from an ambulance that's delayed, or a fire truck that's turned away.

Chen and others in the area came out against the idea...once the N-Y-P-D revealed the trials would require thousands of security barriers and checkpoints...as well as snipers atop buildings.

After Mayor Bloomberg reversed his initial support for holding the trials in New York City...Obama administration officials said other sites are under consideration.  No alternative venue has been chosen...butcivic leaders have proposed several sites at prisons and military bases.

  

Residents and business owners in Chinatown are feeling cautiously optimistic...on news that the Obamaadministration *may* move the 9/11 terror trials elsewhere.

Maggie Kwok and her husband...own Shanghai Asian Cuisine on Elizabeth Street.  They wanted to open a new location nearby...but decided the intense security surrounding a trial...would be bad for business.  But if the trial isn't held downtown...she says they'll move forward with their plans.

KWOK: If it's not really happened, I think the people will very happy, and the Chinatown will not feel like another September 11 coming back.

Kwok and others in the area opposed holding the trials downtown...once the N-Y-P-D revealed they would require thousands of security barriers and checkpoints...as well as snipers atop buildings.

Security Blanket for New York - with a few holes in it.

Not Know How!
Terror Trials’ Security Blanket Full of Holes, Thousands of ‘em!

If the terror trials take place in lower Manhattan as planned, there is absolutely no way Ray Kelly can guarantee our safety.  It’s impossible. Why?  Because there are currently thousands of false parking placards used everyday in our town, especially in lower Manhattan near the federal court buildings. In a recent meeting with Chinatown leaders Commissioner Kelly pointed that THERE WILL BE NO PRIVATE Cars allowed in the soft zone perimeter - "only government and NYPD vehicles" .

That suspicious white van at Times Square, ignored for two whole days because of a fake parking placard, exposed a gaping hole in the NYPD security blanket.  This hole would only get larger with the terror trials located in lower Manhattan.  Commissioner Kelly acknowledged: "There's no question, we should've known about it earlier."  Well, earlier would have been impossible because enforcement officers on the street are instructed to give placarded parked cars a pass.  

At this time the Feds have not taken lower Manhattan off the table as a location for the trials.  It also seems they have not taken the fake parking placard/car bomb threat seriously because this threat is not even mentioned in the media at large.  Excuse me, but shoving this placarded car bomb threat under the rug does not make it go away!   

For years post 9/11, a time of extreme heightened security, the number of placarded cars increased many times at great cost to the local communities’ economy and quality of life. Planning to locate the terror trials in lower Manhattan federal court portends a devastating repeat of the same – only this time with the additional threat of placarded terrorist car bombs exploding in and around our neighborhood!

Federal Courts unsecurable for terror trials in lower Manhattan - Just like post 9/11, securing the area entails a multitude of government employee vehicles using parking permits everyday (and let’s not forget the dozens of press vehicles that would also be present on a daily basis).  The federal court vicinity and bordering neighborhoods would become a magnet for a huge number of placarded vehicles - each one of which could be a car bomb.  

Obviously, the threat of placarded car bombs would not exist elsewhere on Governor's Island or any similar location where access to vehicle parking is exclusively controlled.  The sooner the Feds realize this car bomb threat isunsecurable, the safer we all will be.  Get the trials outta here to a place that can actually be secured!  


Geoff Lee
Lifelong Chinatown Resident
Lives 1-block from Federal Court Bldg