Thursday, January 6, 2011

Terrorists filming bus depot?

From the NY Post:

Terror fears have struck a Brooklyn bus depot after reports that several suspicious people videotaped its highly-flammable natural gas tanks.

"If those were hit, the whole neighborhood would blow up," said Tommy McNally, a Transport Workers Union representative who responded to the reports.

Three incidents of mysterious filming were reported on Saturday, Sunday and Monday at the Jackie Gleason bus depot in Sunset Park. Police say they are investigating.

Those who spotted the individuals described them as "Middle Eastern’’ looking, and said they paid particular attention to the depot’s compressed natural gas tanks, near its front gate.

Only one guard is usually on duty at the depot, said sources.

Early Saturday, a man dressed in a business suit walked by the depot with a video camera, transit sourcessaid.

On Sunday morning, two men and a woman allegedly parked their gray BMW with Pennsylvania plates in front of the depot, and filmed it with a large video camera.

The mysterious videographers waited for the guard to take a bathroom break before shooting their footage, said the sources.

Then on Monday, another man was spotted filming buses along their routes in the neighborhood.

34 comments:

Anonymous said...

Did they at least run the license plate? these weren't your average tourists, sunset park a terrorist target? I don't know about that.

About the guy videotaping buses that can be your average bus fan.

Anonymous said...

making this information public is nuts. if this was not a terrorist target before, it is now.!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

There goes the neighborhood!

Anonymous said...

Of course, just sending people to every sensitive location with fake video cameras could ramp up security enough to bankrupt America.

Babs said...

How come there are no pics or film of these incidents? We have pics of EVERYTHING today - how about surveilance video?

hmmmm . . .

Kevin Walsh said...

Here we go again. You can't use a damn camera in this city anymore.

They were probably foamers who like buses.

OK. Let's outlaw the use of cameras anywhere around transportation, unless, of course, they're hidden security cameras.

Will that satisfy people?

www.forgotten-ny.com

Anonymous said...

Pretty weird thing to photograph. I doubt they had good intentions.

ew-3 said...

"said Tommy McNally, a Transport Workers Union representative "

since when are union reps spokesmen on topics like this? where are the city officials?

Anonymous said...

Pennsylvania license plates in Queens are about as suspicious as a cardboard coffee cup reading "It is our pleasure to serve you".

It may have been the real deal - i.e. examining the locale for vulnerability to a terrorist attack, or like the "flying imans" from a few years back, just a test to see if there would be any response, and if there was one, how could it be twisted into a phony claim of islamophobia.

Or it may just be a ploy by the union to get additional security jobs for the Ralph Kramden Depot.

Anonymous said...

Kevin Walsh, What drugs are you on? They were Middle Eastern filming a Busdepot with large amounts of propane gas 3 days in a row. So the tourist(terrorist) needed 3 days to film a bus depot in brooklyn. Wake up.

Anonymous said...

"Or it may just be a ploy by the union to get additional security jobs for the Ralph Kramden Depot."

Don't think so, they hire outside
contractors for depot security, like the security guards you would see at your drugstore or supermarket.

Do you think those 2 surveillance cameras on top of the guard shack work?

Anonymous said...

We need to remain vigilant. Al-Qaeda and its allies won't stop trying to blow up New York until they're successful.

Deke DaSilva said...

Those who spotted the individuals described them as "Middle Eastern’’ looking

Vibrant! Diverse!

Where's Janet Napolitano?

Oh yeah! She's out on a date with former police chief Charles Moose looking for "two white guys in a white van"!

Keep looking for those "angry white guys"!

Maybe one day you'll find them, and O.J. Simpson will finally nab those guys who killed his former wife!

Anonymous said...

Amazing the effect that paranoia has on people. Let's find out who these guys were first, right? On what basis do we know that these guys are "Middle Eastern"?

Anonymous said...

What about the individual propane storage tanks on top of all those gas powered buses...duh?

Mike Bloomberg said...

Let's find out who these guys were first, right? On what basis do we know that these guys are "Middle Eastern"?

Yes!

After all, remember when I speculated about the identity of the Times Square bomber:

“Home-grown, maybe a mentally deranged person or somebody with a political agenda that doesn't like the health care bill or something. It could be anything.”

Boy, was I wrong!

The suspect turned out to be a Pakistani born guy named Faisal Shahzad!

Amazing the effect that paranoia has on people.

Even more amazing is how political correctness makes you stupid and blind!

Anonymous said...

Who is being politically correct? In this case, we don't even know if these guys actually exist! Let's just get some proof that something actually happened first.

Babs said...

First of all - everyone who has a "2nd home" in Pennsylvania (or in Florida) has a PA license plate - simply because it's cheaper AND you can run up tickets here w/o penalty.

The fact that they "appeared Middle Eastern" makes me laugh - that says to me that they were more than likely 3rd generation PRs. They average American hasn't a CLUE as to who is what. Also - many Americans ARE of Middle Eastern descent - maybe Paula Abdul and Selma Hyaek were filming a new movie together. MAYBE it was a commercial REALTOR filming for selling purposes. People will shoot for a few days if they are not satisfied with the lighting whatever.

AND If you (etc.) thought someone was acting suspicious you should have called it in AND/OR took a pic with your cellphone.

Queens Crapper said...

How do you know they didn't?

Anonymous said...

"Four MTA counter terrorism officers were at the depot reviewing security footage of the incidents yesterday, McNally said."

Anonymous said...

As the actual Ralph Kramden once wisely said: "I'll see ya later, I'm eatin a potatah...."

Babs said...

"Four MTA counter terrorism officers were at the depot reviewing security footage of the incidents yesterday, McNally said."


well - they HAVE to check out any and all reported suspicious activity - THAT does NOT mean they were terrorists filming!

Anonymous said...

Your comment was why didn't they call someone and film it. They did both.

Babs said...

ohh well good then - they did the right thing by alerting the authorities and aiding their investigation by filming it.

That's not they way the news story was presented - it was presented as hearsay.

NOW that I look at it again - I see the story is from NYPost rag. that paper is getting worse by the day BTW

Deke DaSilva said...

They average American hasn't a CLUE as to who is what.

I'll bet $100 that Blabs! doesn't know the major doctrinal differences between a Sunni and a Shiite moslem, off the top of her head, without using Wikipedia!

(I'll bet another $500 that Blabs! can't even decipher that sentence!)

Also - many Americans ARE of Middle Eastern descent - maybe Paula Abdul and Selma Hyaek were filming a new movie together.

Yes, but what religion do those two belong to?

MAYBE it was a commercial REALTOR filming for selling purposes. People will shoot for a few days if they are not satisfied with the lighting whatever.

Yeah, sure Blabs!

A realtor was filming a promotional spot in a bus depot in Brooklyn?

Don't give up your day job, because you have ZERO future in advertising!

Blabs said...

I'm Blabs! Get the "L" outta there! Babs is the blithering idiot, NOT ME! Sheesh!

Anonymous said...

"Yeah, sure Blabs!
A realtor was filming a promotional spot in a bus depot in Brooklyn? Don't give up your day job, because you have ZERO future in advertising!"


Poor little wackado . . .

NO THEY'RE TERRORISTS Chicken Little!! . . . feel better now ya friggin' wimpy idiot?

Anonymous said...

Nobody knows anything until they catch these guys!

Babs said...

I can't find this in the NYPOST BTW - it's seems only to be posted on someone's BLOG instead!

Id - did you make this up?

Queens Crapper said...

Try looking in yesterday's Post. I provided the link to the article on their website.

Anonymous said...

This story was made for Wade DaSilva.
Keep up the maligned-white-male-with-something-to-prove act, Wade!

GL said...

Maybe they were folks that were waiting to film those vintage buses roll in/out from the depot?

Anyway, I'm always weary of people wearing suits...I always think, "that guy probably works on wallstreet" so I hide my wallet and make sure I don't look like I'm wanting a mortgage.

Pro-Zak said...

Scoping out a building using legal means is ... legal, yes?

What the fudge does 'suspicious' really mean? Is that a catch-all word used by paranoia mongers?

Anonymous said...

It was not, and still is not a "crime" to tell your flight instructor that you don't care to learn takeoffs and landings, it remains a "suspicious" activity, or for a person weighing 150 lbs. to request a seat belt extension on a aircraft.

To label behavior described in the original article as "suspicious" is not paranoid.