It’s lower Manhattan, not Soviet-era Berlin!
A group of residents and business owners said Wednesday that they’ll sue the NYPD over its plan to protect the World Trade Center, saying it “would be like putting a ‘Berlin Wall’ around the immediate area.”
Draft court papers claim the planned perimeter of 3-foot-high barriers, guard booths and vehicle-screening “sally ports” will create “fortresslike isolation” for the 16-acre site, a source said.
The planned Manhattan Supreme Court suit, to be filed Thursday morning, will also blast the mandatory environmental review of the plan for citing a “purported need for secrecy” as the reason behind the NYPD’s refusal to justify the security program, which is expected to go into effect next year.
The legal action is being brought by the ad hoc WTC Neighborhood Alliance, which includes six people who live on Liberty Street, within the planned security zone.
In a statement, the city Law Department defended the security plan and environmental review and environmental review, which it said was the result of “a thorough and public process.”
“The importance of security at this site, which has seen two terrorist attacks in the last 20 years, cannot be overstated,” a Law Department spokesperson said.
“It is vital that construction move ahead now so that these security measures can be implemented as this long-awaited site becomes operational.”