Governors Island Transfer Official By Eliot Brown - The New York Observer

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A bit more than two months after the Bloomberg administration and the state agreed to transfer Governors Island to the control of the city, the move is official.

Today the board that oversees the island, which was jointly owned by the state and city, voted to transfer it, a final step, with another coming tomorrow when the board of the Empire State Development Corporation is expected to rubber stamp the move.

Thus ends another chapter of the (apparently) failed experiment of joint city/state development of new parkland. While one of these structures—Hudson River Park—is still intact, without tremendous catastrophe (it's mostly built-out, but lacks a long-term funding source, or any realistic idea of how to get one), there seems to be a consensus that things are easier with one body in control (Brooklyn Bridge Park is also being transferred to the city).

For anyone actually wanting to watch, the video of today's board meeting for Governors Island is here.

Map: How the Gulf Oil Spill Looks Compared to NYC by John Del Signore - Gothamist

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Just in case it's not abundantly clear how catastrophic the ongoing Gulf oil spill really is, Google Earth is putting it in horrific perspective for you, letting you fathom just how enormous the spill is by transposing the giant mess over your home town. Via Paul Rademacher, a Google Maps engineering manager, here's the oil spill as it looks compared in size to NYC. As you can see, the oil slick is saturating the entire metropolitan area but carefully avoiding Newark, where even toxic oil is too scared to ooze.

Times-Ledger: JFK Pipeline Warrants Police Patrol: U.S. Reps by Howard Koplowitz...

Two Queens congressmen joined together Sunday in calling on federal, state and local law enforcement officials to do more to protect John F. Kennedy International Airport from a terrorist attack.

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.

metro: Pol decries Google’s Eye in the Sky by Joshua Rhett Miller...

MANHATTAN. Google Earth should blur images of potential terrorist targets from its satellite mapping Web site, a state lawmaker said yesterday.

Assemblyman Michael Gianaris, D-Queens, said the detailed aerial views of locations such as power plants, airports, transportation hubs, stadiums and other landmarks should be restricted after reports that the men who were plotting to blow up a pipeline at JFK Airport used the site to plan their attack.

“We dodged a bullet this time, but might not be as lucky in the future,” Gianaris said. “We cannot wait for disaster to strike before taking commonsense steps to avoid facilitating an attack.”

Gianaris said he wrote three letters to Google prior to the site’s launch warning the company of the potential security risks.

“The imagery visible on Google Earth and Google Maps is not unique: commercial high-resolution satellite and aerial imagery of every country in the world is widely available from numerous sources,” said Google spokeswoman Megan Quinn in an e-mail yesterday. “Additionally the imagery in Google Earth is not real-time but rather anywhere between six months and three years old. Indeed, anyone who flies above or drives by a piece of property can obtain similar information.”

NY1: Gianaris Calls On Google Earth To Blur Images Of Potential Terror Targets...

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June 10, 2007 -- A Queens lawmaker is calling on Google to sharpen its focus on security by blurring satellite images of sensitive locations.

Assemblyman Mike Gianaris fired off a letter on June 5 to Google CEO Eric Schmidt, asking his company to blur detailed satellite images of skyscrapers, airports and other potential terror targets published online through free services Google Earth and Google Maps.

The issue is particularly important, Gianaris said, after Google Earth was allegedly used by terrorists planning to attack JFK Airport.

It was also reportedly used by Iraqi insurgents to pinpoint attacks on a British base in Basra this year.

"It's only a matter of time before someone uses the information Google Earth provides to do this country harm," said Gianaris, who plans to press the issue today in front of Google's Chelsea offices.

Google spokeswoman Kate Hurowitz says the company takes security "very seriously," pointing out that images are not Google's to alter - it publishes images provided by outside entities, including local governments.

"Our experience is that security concerns can be best addressed through dialogue with the relevant governmental experts," she said.

NY Post: Queens Pol Blasts Google As A Terror Risk by Brad Hamilton

June 10, 2007 -- A Queens lawmaker is calling on Google to sharpen its focus on security by blurring satellite images of sensitive locations.

Assemblyman Mike Gianaris fired off a letter on June 5 to Google CEO Eric Schmidt, asking his company to blur detailed satellite images of skyscrapers, airports and other potential terror targets published online through free services Google Earth and Google Maps.

The issue is particularly important, Gianaris said, after Google Earth was allegedly used by terrorists planning to attack JFK Airport.

It was also reportedly used by Iraqi insurgents to pinpoint attacks on a British base in Basra this year.

"It's only a matter of time before someone uses the information Google Earth provides to do this country harm," said Gianaris, who plans to press the issue today in front of Google's Chelsea offices.

Google spokeswoman Kate Hurowitz says the company takes security "very seriously," pointing out that images are not Google's to alter - it publishes images provided by outside entities, including local governments.

"Our experience is that security concerns can be best addressed through dialogue with the relevant governmental experts," she said.