Osama bin Laden is alive and plotting another attack on New York, the NYPD warned yesterday, as officials fight to retain a program to protect the city from dirty bombs.
“New York remains the most alluring terrorist target in the world,” said NYPD intelligence chief David Cohen. In the eight years since 9/11, 10 known plots have been foiled, he said. Most had “the signature” of al-Qaida.
“This is still going on,” Cohen said, noting that an al-Qaida spokesman recently mentioned “poisoning the New York City water supply.”
“The nuclear threat is of great concern,” he said.
For three years, the NYPD has run the “Securing the Cities” program, which has spent $54 million to give radiological detectors to 65 law enforcement agencies in the tri-state area. The program came under fire last year when a training exercise failed to detect a chunk of radioactive material planted in the Financial District.
The Obama administration scrapped funding, but Congress last week restored between $10 million and $40 million next year.
Sitting near Ground Zero yesterday, Julienne Baptiste lauded the police, but balked at the dirty bomb program. “If they’ve been doing fine so far, why do they need $40 million more?” she asked. “It sounds like a waste.”