NEW YORK — After spending more than $300 million on plans that include a state-of-the-art command center complete with filtered air to thwart chemical and biological attacks, officials here believe New York is fully prepared to face potential problems as the millennium looms.
More than 37,000 police officers will be on duty New Year's Eve, 7,000 in Times Square alone; and officials have stockpiled 50,000 heater meals--add water and the food gets hot--for anyone who needs them, along with extra generators, a three-month supply of batteries and extra suits for protection against hazardous materials. In addition, schools with old-fashioned coal-burning furnaces have been identified as shelters in case of power failures.
The list of preparations continues for pages.
But the bottom line is that officials who gathered in the emergency management center in Manhattan's World Trade Center complex for a drill this week believe problems, if any, will be minimal.
Seated before computer consoles in a room with walls designed to withstand 200-mph winds, representatives from both the federal and state governments, the utility companies and about two dozen city agencies practiced dealing with emergencies ranging from snowstorms and water main breaks to terrorism.
"Are there going to be some problems? Sure," said Jerome M. Hauer, commissioner of the mayor's office of emergency management. "There will be some glitches here and there. Are there going to be citywide blackouts all over the United States? Is the sky going to fall? The likelihood is nil.
"But the responsible thing to do is plan for it."
Most attention has focused on Times Square, where some estimate that as many as 2 million people may gather to watch a crystal ball drop to mark midnight. But 328 other public events are scheduled in the city on New Year's Eve--including a celebration in Brooklyn that could draw large crowds and a mini-marathon in Central Park that could attract hundreds of runners.
Because of concerns about potential terrorism, security is being tightened at such symbolic sites as the World Trade Center, the Statue of Liberty, the stock exchanges and Rockefeller Center.
Times Square poses a special security challenge. The celebration--complete with puppet shows, more than 500 costumed dancers and a new 6-foot diameter, 1,070-pound Waterford crystal ball that will start to descend just before midnight--is designed to last for 24 hours.
