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Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Code Yellow

NYPD
Photo by myself, at the Union Square subway station.

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I don't have much to post today, except some commentary on the photo above. The police presence at Union Square tonight was full blast, and I'm not sure why. Policemen stood around for no evident reason.

We're at Code Yellow right now, which is one less than Code Orange, which is one less than Code Red, (Code Red is really bad).

Most New Yorkers don't feel anxious about the state of things. The trains stop all the time in the middle of tunnels, shady people continue to tote big backpacks.

So far, so good.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's the same in London - everyone just carries on as before. But you have no choice really - you have to get on with things and hope everything will be OK. I step over what appear to be abandoned bags all the time and think nothing of it. They are usually associated with someone or the other - but it is not actually clear at the time and they probably should cause me concern.

Sid said...

Code yellow? But what does that mean? Does that mean that someone made a bomb threat or something?

Spandrel Studios said...

Hey, Kitty. Maybe it's just a drill? Here's hoping!

Carrie said...

Not familiar with the codes but seeing a bunch of police officers standing around makes me nervous.

take care
carrie

Mom Knows Everything said...

Yeah, seeing a bunch of cops standing around waiting for something to happen would freak me right out. I hope everything is okay.

Kitty said...

No worries, Sid and everyone else. These guys must have been chewing the fat.

I think they worry about the larger, more traveled subway stations, but as RB says, we just hurry on and live life, unphased.

These days the airports are at Code Orange. Code yellow is one step less than that. I think it just means heightened awareness.

I didn't mean to freak everyone out!

Ruvym said...

The police run a lot of drills randomly. Sometimes you will see/hear like 40 cop cars streaming down on the East and West side highways in the middle of the day. I'm sure there's also a lot going on that we don't hear or know about. Remember the random bag checks a couple of summers ago, after the London bombing thing. You can't racially profile or differentiate people based on how they appear or what they carry? Great. There I was with a girl in business suit with a small purse and I'm this somewhat Middle-Eastern-looking guy with a backpack, and they check her, not me. It makes no sense. I'm extra vigilent when I'm on the subway. I always look around hoping not to spot someone. I also think we're nervous to be the person who caused a false alarm or pointed someone out based on how they look. Whatever, you gotta suck it up. Once I saw an abandoned bag near my building and went to tell an officer. When we got back it was gone and I felt sort of stupid but I still think it was the better thing to do.