In an effort to better prevent vehicular terror attacks in New York City, officials on Tuesday unveiled plans to add 1,500 permanent bollards, or barriers, in high-profile areas.
“These bollards will make sure vehicles can never come into places where pedestrians are,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a news conference in Times Square.
The measure comes two months after Sayfullo Saipov drove a rented truck down the Hudson River Park Bikeway in lower Manhattan on Halloween morning, killing eight people and injuring a dozen others.
The $50 million initiative unveiled Tuesday will initially provide temporary bollards to high-profile areas such as Times Square, with the installation of permanent fixtures starting in March. The full citywide installation is slated to be completed “over the next few years,” city officials said.
“These additional safety bollards will allow New Yorkers and visitors to be more secure at landmark locations and other sites throughout our city,” NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill said. “They will also serve to delineate restricted areas and help streamline vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian traffic in these areas.”
Days after the Halloween vehicle terror attack, hundreds of concrete barriers were added to 57 pedestrian and vehicle intersections along the bike path, which runs from West 59th Street to Battery Place.
“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,” the mayor said. “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. In this new year, we can and will protect our iconic public spaces while New Yorkers go on living our lives, including by hosting a record number of tourists.”
There will be pedestrian barriers installed in key places throughout NYC to keep people safe. pic.twitter.com/OmdrvUyloO
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) January 2, 2018
“These additional safety bollards will allow us to better protect many of our landmark locations and many of the areas most frequently used for recreation,” @NYPDONeill in #TimesSquare now. pic.twitter.com/oLf0i5LOq4
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) January 2, 2018
