We’re all aware of the great big elephant in the room people don’t really like talking about: that the NY subway system is extremely vulnerable to a terrorist attack. But what we all may not have been aware of is just how close that came to becoming a reality.
Chilling details emerged yesterday regarding an alleged plot to set off explosives within the New York City subway system last September near the 9/11 commemoration. Plot leader 25-year-old Najibullah Zazi, who grew up in Flushing, Queens, was arrested last year after drawing suspicion from buying an enormous amount of hair care products that were intended to make explosives. He has since cooperated with law enforcement officials, after alerting them that he and two others planned to strap bombs to themselves aboard trains at the Times Square and Grand Central subway stations in mid-September of last year. Zazi pleaded guilty in February to conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction and supporting al Qaeda, which he said he received training from in Pakistan in 2008. He faces life in prison without parole at his June sentencing, although his cooperation with authorities might earn him leniency.
The plot was planned to take place at the extremely busy Times Square and Grand Central subway stations during rush hour, when capacity would have been at a maximum. New York City has the oldest subway system in the nation. With long mazes of deeply underground subway stations, such a plan could have been catastrophic, causing passengers to be literally buried underground with the likely loss of thousands of lives.
Since then, NY Transit Police have beefed up their efforts to ward off any further attack plots, although the subway system still remains a viable target on a terrorist hit list.
