Brooklyn Boro

This is not the first time Brooklyn targeted for terror

February 25, 2015 By Mary Frost Brooklyn Daily Eagle
The icy Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges were once terror targets. AP Photo/Seth Wenig
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Wednesday’s terror plot is not the first time Brooklyn has been threatened by Islamic extremists.

In 1997, police arrested terrorists planning to detonate bombs in the Atlantic Avenue subway station, serving 10 subway lines and a Long Island Railroad (LIRR) terminus. The plot was foiled by a pre-dawn raid in Park Slope.

Dozens of heavy granite bollards have been placed around the terminal to prevent bomb-filled trucks from crashing into the station.

Security at Barclays Center, which sits atop the station, is a major concern. Major disaster drills by FDNY and U.S Marine Corps personnel have taken place within the arena.

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There have been 16 known terrorist plots against New York City since September 11, 2001, according to the NYPD.

In 2003, al-Qaeda had planned to release cyanide gas into the subway system and in other public places. The plan was called off by Osama bin Laden’s second in command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, according to U.S. officials.

In July 2006, the FBI revealed it had uncovered a plot involving an attack on a PATH commuter train tunnel connecting New York and New Jersey.

In summer of 2008, a terrorist said he spoke to al-Qaeda about targeting the Long Island Railroad using a suitcase bomb that would be left in a car and set to detonate.

In September 2009, the New York City subway system was targeted for attack by three individuals who planned to set off bombs in the subway during rush hour shortly after the eighth anniversary of 9/11. The plot was thwarted through an intelligence tip received by the FBI and with the cooperation of the NYPD through the Joint Terrorism Task Force.


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