Just across the street from the New York Times headquarters stand two soldiers in camouflage uniforms with powerful handguns strapped to their thighs.
The Associated Press reports that a suspicious abandoned van with tinted windows was found near 41st Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Times Square area businesses were evacuated. This is approximately one block from New York Times headquarters building.
A few days ago, I exited the subway into the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan, across the street from New York Times headquarters, and found myself facing two on-duty soldiers in camouflage uniforms with powerful handguns strapped to their thighs. There was also a third soldier nearby with even a larger pistol (it looked like a semi-automatic) strapped to his thigh.
It seems that the Real World is closing in on the New York Times. A huge bus terminal with thousands of commuters and literally less than twenty yards from the Gray Lady herself, is considered by the Department of Homeland Security as a potential terrorist target. The Times' ability to ignore the threats to America and New York may have reached their end – or very close to it.
On December 8th, 2009, the Times said this in an unsigned journalistic portrait of Hamid Karzi:
The presidential election on Aug. 20 was racked by egregious voting fraud and ballot stuffing, international and Afghan election observers said, and threw the country into an electoral crisis even as the Taliban gained ground in the rugged countryside. Mr. Karzai was declared the winner after his chief rival dropped out, accusing the Karzai government of profound corruption.
It is realistic to say that the Times has angered some people in Afghanistan who may not believe a Letter to the Editor is the best way to express their indignation at having their election called a "fraud." The Times may have some powerful friends in Afghanistan, but an angered peasant could easily penetrate their security. Note the next paragraph.
I personally have attended the last three New York Times Annual Meetings. At no time was anyone required to pass through a metal detector or asked to produce a photo i.d. or have their name compared to a list of registered shareholders. This was written about in April 2008 at American Thinker, which included a comparison with security at the 2007 CBS Annual Meeting which resembled that of an American Airport:
In contrast to this, CBS' annual meeting last year at the Equitable building in midtown Manhattan required proof of share purchase months beforehand, showing an entrance letter mailed to shareholders and passage through a metal detector. I saw a guard at that meeting using a metal wand on a woman who probably had some metal jewelry that set off the standing metal detector's alarm.
The New York Times Annual Meeting takes place in their headquarters building basement theater, The Times Center. That will also be the location of their Arts and Leisure Weekend in January 2010, with tickets on sale to the public to see various popular artists being interviewed. It will be interesting to watch how they secure the building. And to ponder who else will be watching them.
One of the artists interviewed will be Alan Cumming, who appeared in the 2007 Emmy Award Winning television series Tin Man, an updated version of the classic movie The Wizard of Oz. I wonder if he will tell the Times that they aren't in Kansas anymore.
Or perhaps Frank Rich, the former Times theater critic and current political and cultural writer, will give us his "expert advice" on security vs. civil liberties in a time of "man-caused disasters" at a Times Center theater presentation. Or maybe he'll be in Kansas.
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