Fox News' HQ security may be costing NYC up to half a million dollars a year

It seems that Fox News' News Corp. headquarters on Sixth Avenue has been receiving some "special  treatment" from the NYPD. The News Corp. building is currently guarded by a police security detail 24 hours a day, seven days a week. A patrol that Eugene O' Donnell, a professor of police studies at John Jay College, estimated costs the city at least half a million dollars a year.

Upon observing the News Corp. building, The Daily Beast found at least two officers patrolling the plaza along with one or two additional police cars stationed in front of the 45-story building on a regular basis. Upon approaching a security guard inside the lobby of the News Corp. building he said that the police presence out front “has nothing to do with Fox News,” and is there simply because it’s a “high-profile” area. However, cops who spoke with The Daily Beast said that they are posted at the site to protect Fox News, as part of a counterterrorism initiative. Most officers explained that Fox News is a sensitive location, and one even referred to it as a “political” network.

While Fox News seems to be enjoying the luxury of not having to pay for additional private security, other news networks don't seem to be receiving the same treatment, although a police department spokesman suggested to The Daily Beast that they did. So what makes Fox News different?

It appears that it is the extensive paranoia of Fox News chief Roger Ailes who is obsessed with his security. To understand what drives Fox News, and what its true purpose is, you must first understand Chairman Ailes. “He is Fox News,” says Jane Hall in the Rolling Stone article on Ailes. “It’s his vision. It’s a reflection of him.”
In April 2011, Gawker reported that police responded to calls from the Ailes home in Putnam Valley, New York, ten times since 2009, most of which were classified as “security checks.” Additionally, in a January 2010 profile on Ailes   New York Times journalists David Carr and Tim Arango wrote that “it was clear in the interview that the 9/11 attacks had a profound effect on Mr. Ailes. They convinced him that he and his network could be terrorist targets.” The article also stated that Ailes said he had been frequently threatened.

In addition, it is also worth mentioning that New York City Police Commissioner  Ray Kelly's son Greg has worked for Ailes’s network since 2002, as a White House correspondent and co-anchor on "Fox and Friends, Weekend," filmed at the media empire on Sixth Ave., and "Good Day NY," which is filmed on the Upper East Side.

Whether the NYPD is there for Ailes or as part of a counterterrorism initiative, one thing is for sure; for a city strained with immense budget cuts and a huge reduction in police staff, the 24-hour security detail carries a substantial price tag. In fact, by June 2012, the NYPD will comprise the smallest police force the city has had since the high-crime era in 1992.