The Port Authority and New York City Police Department are locked in a game of one-upmanship at Ground Zero, duking it out for jurisdiction over security at the site.
The tit-for-tat began when the Port Authority Police Department set up guard booths at the site decked out with the agency’s logo. NYPD officials responded by pulling up in a large mobile command center, with their own logo, parked a few feet away, the New York Post reported. The PAPD then pulled up behind the truck with a shiny new command center crowned with a satellite dish.
“Our truck came in the morning, and they brought theirs in the afternoon,” an NYPD officer told the New York Post. “It’s like, look, ours is bigger and newer than yours.” A PA official, meanwhile, told the Post that his colleagues felt their space was being invaded.
The competing agencies are also at odds over who should be paying for security at the site, and both told the Post that they have plans to patrol the area next year, after 1 World Trade Center opens. [NYP] — Julie Strickland