White House backs off plan to hold 9/11 trial in NYC

Courtesy ABC News

A letter written by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to Washington, DC may have doomed plans to bring the September 11 terror trial to NYC. He mentions in the letter that it would cost $200-million-a -year to secure the city during the trial. NYC Police Commisioner Raymond Kelly detailed a planned lockdown of lower Manhattan which would cause new standards for gridlock. He also mentions that several hundred additional police officers would have to be on duty to cover the downtown area and other locations in the city.

This outcry has forced the Obama administration to consider looking for a new home for the 9/11 terror trial. The letter written by Mayor Bloomberg put the cost of stepped-up security at $216 million for the first year after Mohammed and the others arrive in Manhattan from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. After that the mayor said it would cost $200 million annually for as long as the men are detained in the city - mainly overtime for extra NYPD patrols.

Police Commissioner Kelly in a speech to a police organization said "given the unprecedented media attention the trial will attract, one concern is that terrorists may attempt to strile again in an effort to garner the publicity". More protests on both sides were also a concern. The NYPD planned a show of force involving thousands of officers on foot, in mobile guard towers and in patrol cars. An outer perimeter would be created with checkpoints for inspecting private cars, along with an inner frozen zone around the courthouse that would ban them altogether.

Experts say that the threat assessment and cost projections are not overkill. Rick Nelson, a security expert with the Center for Strategic & International Studies says that "the price tag is obviously large, but it is not something you cut corners on....A failure would be devastating.

Meanwhile, the mayor of a small upstate New York city says his community would be the perfect site for the Sept. 11 terrorist trial. Mayor Nicholas Valentine said on Friday that Newburgh, a small city 60 miles up the Hudson River from NY City, is the ideal place to hold the trial. He mentioned that the city has a new state-of-the-art courthouse that can be easily secured. Mayor Valentine thinks the city of Newburgh would benefit from the international attention and he would like to see a federal aid package if the city hosts the trial.

The US Justice Department will be looking at other sites outside New York City for possible locations to hold the trial.