De Blasio Addresses Times Square Crowd After Paris Attack
It all started with a tweet. Wednesday, November 18, five days after the Paris bombings, videos released by ISIS depicting Times Square as a possible target threat sent panic across the United States prompting the New York FBI to communicate this to the world.
“We are aware of the reporting of ongoing terrorist threats to NYC, to include the newly-released ISIS video involving Times Square…” the tweet read.
“Don’t, too dangerous, seriously. It’s not worth it” one message from a concerned classmate read. Too late, I was on the train to Times Square. This is what real journalists do right?
“I’ll have a quick scout, 30 minutes that’s all,” I replied.
Thirty minutes, yeah right!
Times Square is the most visited place in the world attracting foot traffic of nearly 300,000 a day, making it an obvious target for terror threats.
At 9 pm the crowds seemed a little lighter than usual but the police presence certainly wasn’t. They were awaiting the 11 pm theater crowd to appear to assess the situation.
I sat down next to Glyn Pearce, from Bath in England, who was over for an east coast tour and was finishing up in New York City. He had not heard the news and when I showed him the tweets released by the NY FBI, ”Oh crikey,” Pearce said. Asked if the terror threat had been on his mind, “no, not until now, I won’t be taking the subway then,” Pearce said.
As the police presence grew stronger a slew of media vans began to arrive. Something was going to happen. Oh, the excitement! Is this what being a journalist is all about?
Within a few minutes, all the major cable networks were lined up in front of a podium where it seemed a press conference was about to commence.
Trying to blend in with the television crews, I bumped into Javier Gutierrez, a freelance photographer from Buenos Aires, Argentina who was visiting with his stepsister and her father.
Gutierrez, with his long-lensed DSLR camera and I with my iPhone and diary were the odd men out as the media area was roped off.
“I was walking around and saw all the media, and I asked what was going on and he said there was a possible terrorist attack,” Gutierrez said.
Specializing in political photography Gutierrez wasn’t going to miss an opportunity like this. “I don’t think anything is going to happen but if I was here and something suddenly happened then I would ask why I was not here,” Gutierrez said.
Eventually, Gutierrez and I were shunted out of the media area but were front row in the public section as New York Mayor Bill de Blasio entered from the New York Police Department building to deliver his press conference.
“We understand it’s the goal of terrorists to interrupt and disrupt our democratic society,” de Blasio said.
He encouraged New Yorkers to go about their business normally.
Squashed up against me Hayley Ramirez, visiting from Florida said, “it’s getting real now, someone has to do something about it.”
As de Blasio’s speech came to an end, I looked down and my diary was full of notes, some legible. I had a sensation I was part of the crowd. The media crowd that is.
My three-hour adventure to Times Square had certainly made me feel like a journalist, but everything seemed all too familiar. Defiant speeches letting everyone know all is ok and no immediate threat.
But for me, bumping into an enthusiastic freelance photographer, getting kicked out of a media area and being up close to a press conference by New York’s Mayor was good enough.
I was on the way to being a journalist.
