On Tuesday morning, thousands of New Yorkers got on a train for the morning rush, just like they do every day.
Just hours earlier, Brussels was rocked by multiple terror attacks, including an explosion in a subway station there.
At news conferences in the morning and in Times Square in the afternoon, Mayor Bill de Blasio emphasized that there are no specific and credible threats to the city at this time. He and police Commissioner William Bratton outlined the heightened security precautions taken anyway — a larger police presence on the subway and the deployment of heavily armed counterterrorism units to Times Square and other potential targets.
It was a day of reassuring, of pointing to the capacities of the NYPD — the usual activities of the day after an attack.
Security theater
In the coming days, many New Yorkers may feel a twinge of fear getting on the subway, nerves firing at a loud noise or the smell of smoke (as happened with a routine kitchen fire near Grand Central on Tuesday). But few will change their behavior — because of the touted New York attitude, but also frankly because we just don’t think the next attack will take place here, now, affecting the individual New Yorker.
We see gestures like NYPD swarming trains and subway entrances, but know that their presence is just that — a gesture at security more than the promise of the real thing. Other work that tries to keep us safe takes place behind the scenes.
The same dissonance was on display at Tuesday’s news conferences as officials discussed what was supposed to be the topic of the day: the recent uptick in stabbing and slashing crimes.
Bratton promised more police presence on subways and more accurate and detailed information on what exactly was happening with each slashing — a Compstat approach. But he also was careful to point out that slashings on the subway made up about two percent of the total 916 incidents in 2016.
That suggests the new focus is to some extent meant to reassure a nervous public — or a public nervous enough to rate attention. It’s not like the subways are getting any less crowded.
Keep calm and carry on
The message of the day was that authorities say they’re doing what they can to keep the city safe.
Those solutions are not obvious or easy, and should be subject to oversight. It’s impossible to guarantee perfect safety at all times, making feverish and all-consuming security worries a fruitless endeavor.
Compare this to the easy answers being provided by the likes of Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz.
Trump reiterated calls to close the border and his comfort with torture. Cruz proposed patrolling and securing Muslim neighborhoods “before they become radicalized.” The Twitter hashtag #StopIslam blamed an entire religion for the terrorist actions.
Arguments like these only embolden would-be attackers. Ghettoizing Muslim neighborhoods doesn’t make anyone safer. Useful law enforcement, relying on support from within communities, is much more difficult.
Pronouncements like these do the opposite of reassuring — they only raise the temperature of fear. New Yorkers are looking for a different kind of reassurance.
But just as we did on Tuesday morning, we’ll get on the train.
This is amExpress, the conversation starter for New Yorkers. Subscribe at amny.com/amexpress.
