Delay Security System

MTA: Video Watch Isn't Synchronized

By GINGER ADAMS OTIS

JOHN LIU: Should be further along.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority's multi-million-dollar high-tech surveillance system won't be coming to a subway near you anytime soon.

MTA officials revealed during a City Council hearing Feb. 2 that it will take another 2-1/2 years to get the $212 million project up and running - prompting a fresh wave of criticism from elected officials that the agency has moved too slowly on security issues since 9/11.

'We Are at War'

"[The World Trade Center attack] was an act of war. We are at war," said Staten Island Council Member Michael McMahon, chiding the agency for its apparent lack of urgency.

The security system will eventually include 1,000 video cameras and 3,000 motion sensors, as well as cutting-edge software that can monitor video feeds and send alerts to various command centers around the city about suspicious activities. A package abandoned on a platform, for example, could trigger an alarm at the nearest information hub that would send in authorities for a closer look.

Ronnie Hakim, MTA General Counsel for Capital Construction, said the agency was in the final round of testing with contractor Lockheed Martin. The technology has never before been used to secure a mass transportation system. Ms. Hakim said a certain amount of "touching and feeling" was required to ensure the technology would work in New York's unique, century-old subway tunnels and stations.

"It's now 4-1/2 years since 9/11 and three years since you got funding for this. Am I wrong in assuming we should have moved beyond the 'touchy-feely' stage by now?" asked Council Member John Liu, chair of the Transportation Committee.

Ms. Hakim said the agency had invested considerable effort in speeding up Lockheed Martin's design phase, including coordinating with Federal government security experts to test prototypes in government facilities in New Mexico.

She added that installation was being done in phases. Some subway stations already have video cameras in place, and another 4,000 will be installed by the end of 2007. A full implementation of the surveillance system in all MTA subway stations, tunnels and commuter railroads is planned for 2008, Ms. Hakim said.

Council Member Larry Seabrook, who represents The Bronx, questioned whether such surveillance could adequately function below ground. "The public address system barely works in some of the stations in my district," he said.

Other Council Members expressed similar skepticism about the agency's stated progress, with Jessica Lapin of Manhattan noting "It doesn't seem to me that we're safer today than we were on 9/11."

The agency has moved more quickly on some short-term security efforts, pouring $250 million into a beefed-up security staff that's nearly 10-percent larger than it was pre-9/11, and creating "specialized response units."

It has awarded $590 million to companies for design and construction of enhanced security technology.