Forget Sarasota — With Its Good Weather, Low Taxes And Leisurely Pace, New York City Is The Retirement Community Of The Future!

Lost in the discussion about the mysterious, still-unexplained one million new residents is that the number includes a previously overlooked army of 300,000 new seniors, making New York City the nation’s top retirement destination:

The city’s elderly population is projected to jump 44 percent by 2030, which means there will be roughly 1.35 million senior citizens comprising 20 percent of the city population. That includes roughly one-third of the projected additional 1 million New Yorkers the Bloomberg administration expects here then. That surge motivated the PlaNYC initiative to address issues such as the environment, energy and the city’s aging infrastructure — but not so much its aging population.

The City Council yesterday announced that the New York Academy of Medicine will receive $125,000 to develop a blueprint to prepare the city for its aging population. It’s expected by April.

“Our focus has been on the cost of care and biomedical research,” said academy president Jo Ivey Boufford. “This deals with prevention — how people can be as healthy as they can be, as long as they can. . . . We’re creating a blueprint for investment over a number of years and policy action over a number of years.”

The Advance makes the situation sound that much more dire:

With New York City’s population expected to boom, adding nearly 1 million more residents by 2030, demographers predict that the number of elderly dwellers will increase by 300,000.

. . .

“There’s been much discussion and planning, appropriately so, about what the future of New York City will look like in 2030,” Ms. Quinn said in respect of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s environmental agenda to combat global warming. “But one of the things we’ve not yet looked at is the reality that by 2030, there will be 300,000 additional senior citizens in New York City.”

Terrorists Love Transportation Infrastructure Even More Than Spalding Gray

This should be easy to monitor because it’s not like the Staten Island Ferry is one of the three top tourist attractions in New York City or anything. Yup, right:

Taking pictures aboard the Staten Island Ferry? Watch where you’re pointing that camera, bub.

The recent scare in Washington state — two men, apparently of Middle Eastern descent, were spotted photographing sensitive areas of the ferryboats that ply Puget Sound — has triggered heightened sensitivity to shutterbugs.

Photography is officially permitted onboard and in terminals here, and with so many tourists enjoying the views of New York Harbor and the Statue of Liberty from the boats each day, “picture-taking is a part of the experience,” acknowledged city Department of Transportation spokeswoman Molly Gordy.

An official memo sent to ferry staff in 2005 indicated that crew members were “not to prohibit anyone from taking photographs in any areas open to the public,” while remaining vigilant and informing security and supervisors if anything seems unusual about a passenger’s photo op.

“If pictures are being taken that seem suspicious, just as if a person is acting suspicious, NYPD on board would be alerted and the parties would be questioned,” Ms. Gordy said.

In: Security Cameras; Out: 30-Sided Dice

Is it a convenient way to use up some of that Homeland Security money or a profound cultural shift? You know, like role-playing games once were:

E-Tech Computers, located at 71-06 Grand Avenue in Maspeth, recently introduced a new security camera system that offers 360-degree views, making them ideal for warding off burglars, prowlers and other miscreants.

Eric, the proprietor of the store, said the time seemed right to expand into the field of home security. Currently, E-Tech has a variety of high-tech models for sale, some having the familiar security camera shape, while others are half-spherical and offer full-room views to guard against blind spots.

The employees of E-Tech take great personal pride in the cameras and security they offer. Not only are the cameras on the cutting edge, Eric said, but he believes they have never been more necessary in Maspeth, Middle Village or just about any part of the big city. “People get robbed,” he said. “Bad stuff happens.”

Staff members at the store agreed. “Right now, New York is becoming less safe,” one worker claimed. “People need something to record what happens.”

Still, the cameras represent a slight departure from the usual merchandise E-Tech sells. The store, which has been in business for five years, is best known for dealing in hardware and software, not surveillance technology.

Eric and his E-Tech co-workers, however, have the freedom to change directions depending on what they presume the market demands. After all, the store is not part of a computer conglomerate, but like so many Grand Avenue retailers, a homegrown business financed out of Eric’s own pocket. As such, the store offers some items one wouldn’t expect in a traditional computer store, such as 30-sided dice and replicas of samurai swords.

Samad The Butcher Has A Very Sharp Boning Knife . . . And He’s Threatening To Behead Alice!

You can thank Ray Kelly for the new climate of fear in Staten Island this morning:

It is the sobering reality of post-9/11 life on Staten Island.

In New York City.

Across the country.

Terrorism is potentially lurking in every alleyway and on every street corner.

Most frightening is that the new-age terrorist does not have to wear a disguise or assimilate.

Because the person most likely to threaten our safety is made in America.

While the threat from overseas jihadist groups like al-Qaida remains real, New York City and other U.S. targets face an increasing and evolving threat from homegrown terrorists, such as those who planned to attack Fort Dix in New Jersey, according to an NYPD Intelligence Division report issued yesterday.

The report says resident terrorists are often “unremarkable” people who plan attacks on the U.S. after they are radicalized by social, economic or political “triggers.”

. . .

The radicalization process is often sparked by a personal crisis, the report says, such as the loss of a job; the experiencing of a real or perceived episode of discrimination, or the death of a close family member.

Without mentioning specific locales, the report says that “cafes, cab driver hangouts, flop houses, prisons, student associations, non-governmental organizations, hookah bars, butcher shops and bookstores” are frequently “rife with extremist rhetoric” and act as “radicalization incubators” for potential jihadists.

Once immersed in radical ideology, the jihadist often seeks to join with other like-minded individuals. Under the guidance of a “spiritual sanctioner,” such as a cleric, and an “operational leader,” groups such as these, the report says, can morph from “just being a bunch of guys” into operational terrorist cells.

The Internet is a powerful “driver” and “enabler” of jihad, according to the report, providing access to radical ideology; an anonymous, virtual meeting place for jihadists, and access to information about potential targets and weapons design.

Though not formal members of Al-Qaida, jihadists use the principles of Osama bin Laden’s terror network as “their inspiration and ideological reference point,” the report says.

They “look, act, talk and walk like everyone around them,” the study adds.

And When Did You Say The Next Homeland Security Grant Applications Are Due?

Of course it’s an issue for local law enforcement — they’re the ones best suited to tackle the threat:

Police officials said the report laid the groundwork for a public policy debate over the growing concern about homegrown terrorism and would serve as a tool for law enforcement to better understand threats in the United States compared with threats by Al Qaeda members overseas. Local law enforcement officers, corporate security officials and some politicians praised the Police Department for addressing the human factors at play in terrorist plots and for helping to synthesize trends in human behavior. But critics called the report a faulty stereotyping of entire communities of Arab people, a notion the Police Department rejected.

“The report is at odds with federal law enforcement findings, including those of the recently released National Intelligence Estimate, and uses unfortunate stereotyping of entire communities,” Kareem W. Shora, the national executive director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, said in a statement.

The “sweeping generalizations” of the report may serve to cast a pall of suspicion over the entire American Muslim population, the Council on American-Islamic Relations said yesterday.

“The report also claims that signs of radicalization include positive changes in personal behavior such as giving up smoking, drinking and gambling,” said Parvez Ahmed, chairman of the group’s board, adding that the report made similar claims about those who wore Islamic clothing. “Is Islamic attire or giving up bad habits, which is something recommended by leaders of all faiths, now to be regarded as suspicious behavior?”

Police officials from New York visited Washington this week to brief officials, including those from the White House and the F.B.I., said Lawrence Sanchez, an assistant police commissioner.

Mark J. Mershon, assistant director in charge of the F.B.I.’s New York office, did not attend yesterday’s briefing. Stephen Kodak, an F.B.I. spokesman in Washington, said, “We have no comment on the report.”

Note the Power Point slide in the picture — remember, it’s easy to shut down homegrown terrorists when you goad them into committing crimes. Ostentatiously pronouncing that homegrown terrorists are the most dangerous threat out there is the only obvious thing to do . . .