New York City plans to install more than 1,500 security barriers to prevent terror-related attacks. The move comes after recent vehicle-related homicides in the city.
Bill de Blasio, the city Mayor, said that he plans to build the barriers as part of the initial phase of a 50 million dollars worth security infrastructure plan to upgrade the defenses against that type of attacks. The locations where the barriers will be installed are Times Square and Lower Manhattan, The Hill reports.
“In 2017, New Yorkers witnessed the horrible capacity of people willing to do us harm, whether it was in our subways, on our bike paths or in Times Square. But we will not be cowed, and our expanded investment today in barriers and bollards in our public spaces underscores our resolve in keeping New York City safe from future attacks,” De Blasio said in his statement.
The barriers are actually cylindrical metal posts and they will replace concrete barriers that went up on sidewalks after the attacks. The barriers are expected to prevent vehicles from entering pedestrian-concentrated areas and public spaces.
The move comes as more and more attackers use cars as weapons. Last month, 18 people were injured when a driver of an SUV plowed into Christmas shoppers in Melbourne, Australia. Previously, in October, eight people lost their lives and almost a dozen were injured when a men drove a rented pickup truck down a busy bicycle path near the World Trade Center. According to the authorities, the driver committed the attack in the name of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Earlier in 2017, a man was killed when an individual drove his car through crowded sidewalks in Times Square. Twenty people were injured.
Bollards already dot pedestrian plazas around Times Square after a 50 million dollars capital project was finished in 2016. The concrete barriers are expected to be replaced by “more attractive temporary blocks” by the end of the month, while the installation of the permanent metal bollards is expected to begin in March and to last over the next few years.
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