City blockes cellphone signal in tunnels

Officials pull plug on phones in tunnels



BY TANYANIKA SAMUELS, JIMMY VIELKIND and ADAM LISBERG
DAILY NEWS WRITERS

If you see something, you can't say something - at least not in Manhattan's four vehicle tunnels.
Authorities blocked cell phone signals in the Holland, Lincoln, Midtown and Battery tunnels soon after the London subway bombings last week.

They did it, apparently, so terrorists couldn't use a cell signal to remotely detonate a bomb. But angry drivers said yesterday they felt less safe without a way to call for help in an emergency.

"I would feel safer if I could use my phone," said Shelley Moore, 36, who wore her phone headset in the Midtown Tunnel yesterday. "What if there's an accident?"

The MTA and Port Authority wouldn't say why they pulled the plug or when service would be restored. An NYPD spokesman said police never asked for a phone block.

Cell phones were used to trigger the Madrid train bombings, which killed 191 people last year, and are often used to detonate roadside bombs in Iraq. Authorities think last week's nearsimultaneous London blasts may have been sparked the same way.

Driver Deuce Martinez, 38, of Newark said cutting cell service to prevent bombings seemed like a fair tradeoff.

"If this betters the system in order to stop terrorist attacks, then I don't mind it," Martinez said yesterday on Ninth Ave. as he crept toward the Lincoln Tunnel. "I have no problem. It's just a couple of minutes."

But Paolo Sellan, 41, of Manhattan said authorities were overreacting - and cutting the only lifeline drivers have under the Hudson and East rivers.

"If terrorists are going to blow up a tunnel, they don't need a cell phone," Sellan said.

The nation's mass transit system remains on orange alert, and subway and train commuters will see the same stepped-up security precautions today that they did Friday.

Mayor Bloomberg also criticized the MTA yesterday for spending only $30 million of a planned $600 million in post-9/11 security enhancements.

"The MTA has to ratchet up the pace of increasing security on our subway system," Bloomberg said. "Clearly they're not far enough along."

MTA spokesman Brian Dolan said the MTA is spending $43 million a year for extra police salaries and security measures and will spend up to $400 million by the end of the year on long-term security projects.

Wireless service cut off in 4 NYC tunnels
By Jeffrey Silva
Jul 11, 2005

WASHINGTON-Mobile-phone service provided by five national carriers in four high-volume New City traffic tunnels was suspended indefinitely in the aftermath of last week's train bombings in London, despite uncertainty over whether cell phones were in fact used to detonate the deadly explosions in Great Britain.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey last Thursday abruptly pulled the plug on power to collocated transmission facilities serving the Lincoln and Holland tunnels connecting the two states, Port Authority officials said. The two tunnels combined accommodate about 230,000 passengers daily, according to Tony Ciavolella, a Port Authority spokesman.

"Safety and security of our customers is a top priority," said Ciavolella. He did not say when service would resume, noting only that the Port Authority remains in contact with the Department of Homeland Security and state and local officials.

Not long thereafter, the Metropolitan Transit Authority cut off cell-phone signals to subscribers of Cingular Wireless L.L.C., Verizon Wireless, Sprint PCS, T-Mobile USA Inc. and Nextel Communications Inc. in the Midtown and Brooklyn-Battery tunnels. A woman in MTA's media office said cell-phone service in the two tunnels was taken down Friday at the request of the New York Police Department.

"We apologize for any inconvenience to customers and hope transit authorities will resume service quickly," said Jeffrey Nelson, a Verizon Wireless spokesman.

Wireless service remains down in 2 NYC tunnels amid order questions
By Jeffrey Silva
Jul 13, 2005
WASHINGTON-Decisions by two traffic agencies to shut down mobile-phone service in four heavily traveled New York City tunnels shortly after last week's London bombings have led to questions about who exactly gave the orders to cut off power to transmitters and whether procedures exist to address whether cellular signals should be blocked in tunnels or subways for safety reasons.
The Metropolitan Transit Authority, which yesterday restored cell-phone service in the Midtown and Brooklyn-Battery tunnels, on Monday said the New York Police Department directed it to turn off cell phone service last Thursday.

On Tuesday, an NYPD spokeswoman said the police department did not direct cell-phone service of all five national mobile-phone carriers to be turned off last week. An MTA spokeswoman subsequently said MTA officials made the decision to pull the plug on power to base stations shared by Cingular Wireless L.L.C., Verizon Wireless, Sprint PCS, T-Mobile USA Inc. and Nextel Communications Inc. for service in the Midtown and Brooklyn-Battery tunnels.

Meantime, cell-phone service remains down in the Lincoln and Holland tunnels operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

A PA spokeswoman said the decision to take down cell-phone service in the two tunnels was made by the Port Authority's police department and senior staff. The Port Authority also said it was in contact with the Department of Homeland Security and state and local authorities following the London bombings last week.

The PA spokeswoman would not say when cell-phone service would resume in the Lincoln and Holland tunnels.

It remains unclear whether bombs in London were detonated by cell phones. The use of cell phones to trigger bomb explosions is a common tactic of terrorists.