At a news conference in Howard Beach, U.S. Reps. Gregory Meeks (D-Jamaica) and Anthony Weiner (D-Forest Hills) said the fuel tanks allegedly targeted in a terrorist plot that was recently foiled should be monitored by surveillance cameras.
They also called for additional police patrols of the area and more communications between federal, state and local officials.
Both Meeks and Weiner said the aborted terror plot should serve as a reminder to the federal government that New York remains one of the country's most prominent targets.
"I am calling for increased federal resources from the Department of Homeland Security to compliment the ongoing security efforts of the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey at JFK," Meeks said.
Prosecutors claim that alleged mastermind Russel Defreitas, Abdul Kadir, Abdel Nur and Kareem Ibrahim planned the attack. Defreitas was arrested at a Brooklyn diner earlier this month while Kadir, Nur and Ibrahim were apprehended in Trinidad. A Trinidadian judge denied bail for Kadir, Nur and Ibrahim pending an extradition hearing.
In the wake of the failed plot, state Assemblyman Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria) said Google should blur out or obscure images of sensitive locations, such as the airports, nuclear power plants and landmark buildings, from its Google Earth program.
"I don't know why anyone would need to know where a jet tank is located," Gianaris said.
Residents and leaders of the neighborhoods surrounding the airport also said recently that more needs to be done to protect JFK, specifically the pipeline that brings petroleum to the airport. Members of Community Board 10, which covers Howard Beach, Ozone Park and Broad Channel, also said at their monthly meeting last week that an evacuation plan for residents near the pipeline should be drafted.
CB 10 member John Marus said police should monitor the pipeline, which runs primarily under 157th Avenue in Howard Beach, by helicopter.
"By the grace of God, we were spared," Marus said, noting there should be evacuation routes in case of an attack on the pipeline.
"What do we have as far as a local plan?" he asked.
One CB 10 member said there was no "comprehensive escape plan for the area.
"It's get up and run [but] when all the cars crash at the intersection, nobody runs," he said.
CB 10 Chairwoman Betty Braton said there should be more of a police presence in the vicinity of the pipeline, but cautioned that she was not asking authorities to profile individuals.
She also said there should be video surveillance of trucks that enter the airport.
Kenneth Zorn, community affairs officer for the 106th Precinct, said the precinct was asked to identify potential terrorist targets following the Sept. 11 attacks. The pipeline was listed as such a target. He said officers routinely search the weeds surrounding the pipeline for suspicious activity during patrols. But Braton said it is not just a possible attack on the pipeline that has her concerned. Howard Beach is known for elaborate fireworks displays on July 4, which Braton said could enable a terrorist to blend into the celebrations and fire off a missile.
"You could probably arm a small army with what's in our back yards," she said, referring to the fireworks.
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