An Abundance Of Caution

Police descended on the subway system yesterday evening in response to the most specific non-credible threat of terrorism to the city to date:

Security in and around New York City’s subways was sharply increased yesterday after city officials said they were notified by federal authorities in Washington of a terrorist threat that for the first time specifically named the city’s transit system.

The measures were announced by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, along with Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly and the head of the New York F.B.I. office, Mark J. Mershon, after an American military operation with the C.I.A. and the F.B.I. in Iraq yesterday and Wednesday, according to law enforcement officials. The operation, the officials said, was aimed at disrupting the threat.

Some officials in Washington, in interviews last night, played down the nature of the threat. While not entirely dismissing it, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security described it as “specific yet noncredible,” adding that the intelligence community had concluded that the information was of “doubtful credibility.”

A perfect conspiratorial storm brewed as the Mayor held a press conference detailing the threats just hours before the contentious mayoral debate at which Hizzoner was a conspicuous no show:

Against the backdrop of reports of a new terrorist threat to New York City, the mayoral debate at the Apollo Theater in Harlem last night abounded in attacks on Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and his decision not to participate, even as voters seemed sure to be focusing on his warnings about security.

Meanwhile, this emerged as news reports emerged that for several days a news outlet held a news report about the threat, deferring to authorities concerned about ongoing operations:

Mayor Bloomberg praised WNBC/Ch.4 reporter Jonathan Dienst – without naming him – at the start of a news conference during which authorities announced the threat.

“A news outlet was aware of this report two days ago, and they were asked to hold it for operational reasons,” Bloomberg said. “They did, and we are grateful for that.”

Dienst went live with the story at 5p.m. yesterday, about 30 minutes before the mayor’s news conference. But he said he had no guarantee the story would not break earlier somewhere else.

WABC/Ch. 7 reported on the threat at about the same time, but with fewer details.

“I’m happy because I think we did the right thing,” Dienst said last night. “It worked out for our viewers and law enforcement and we’re pleased all around.”

Law enforcement sources told the Daily News that on Monday a credible source informed the NYPD of the threat.

Is Al Qaeda primed and ready to attack the subways? Did the mayor pull a Bush by announcing a terrorist threat in order to push the mayoral debate off the front pages (open speculation on the radio shows this morning)? Were the police compelled to act when they did because of a news report about to break? Or none of the above?

Piling On

Unwilling to let go of the Ferrer Fib, the New York Post interviews current Cardinal Spellman students about the candidate’s apparent lack of school spirit:

Fernando Ferrer’s school pride — or lack of it — was the talk of his alma mater yesterday, as students at Cardinal Spellman HS debated whether the mayoral candidate had dissed them by denying his roots.

“He’s grimy. He’s a shysty man,” said Madelene Sagun, 16. “He should say he went to Spellman. It’s a good school.”

But other students said Ferrer’s claim on his Web site’s blog that he went mainly to public schools was no big deal.

“I think it was a mistake,” said junior Rafael Bonilla, 16. “I made a mistake today. I forgot what class I was going to.”

Samantha Crespo, 17, said Ferrer’s fib was brought up by a student in her social-studies class. “It’s not a big deal to us,” she said.

But William Cantine, 16, wanted to make sure, so he looked up Ferrer’s photo in a yearbook.

“I wanted to see if it was true,” he said. “How could he deny Spellman? I love this school. I’m so pissed. It’s really not cool of him.”

Meanwhile, the Times covers Ferrer’s visit to a high school, which may have violated laws prohibiting campaigning in public schools:

For the second day in a row, Fernando Ferrer was on the defensive yesterday about his honesty in the mayoral contest, this time over whether he had campaigned at a public school in violation of Education Department rules.

Just a day after a dust-up with his opponent, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, over whether Mr. Ferrer had falsified his school history in a log entry on his Web site, Mr. Ferrer found himself in another school-related controversy at a time when he is increasingly trying to deflate the mayor’s record on education.

. . .

Mr. Ferrer’s latest difficulties began after he accepted an invitation from Martha Cruz, a social-studies teacher at Flushing High School in Queens, to speak to 12th graders about avoiding political apathy. The invitation came over the summer, but Mr. Ferrer spoke at the school yesterday, a violation of Education Department rules that bar candidates from visiting schools within 60 days of an election. (Public officials who are running for office are allowed to hold or attend events, but only as part of their official duties, the regulations say.)

The plans for Mr. Ferrer’s speech appeared on his public campaign schedule, although the news media were barred from attending because, Ferrer aides said, the principal did not want television cameras in the school. Asked afterward by reporters what he thought of the rule prohibiting campaigning in schools, Mr. Ferrer said, “I didn’t campaign, and I made it a point to talk to these kids about civic participation and my own experiences in it at a young age.” He added, “I talked about some of the things that inspired me.”

But according to students who attended the meeting, Mr. Ferrer also talked about what he would do if elected.

“He was talking about how he was going to get better jobs and stuff out to the Latino community, how he was going to just do much better with the public school system, and that’s basically it,” said Mishelle Severe, 17. She added that he had also talked about lowering the cost of housing, and that she felt he was looking for votes. “But in a good way,” she said, adding, “but then again it’s politics.”

Kids — they say the darnedest things!

When In Doubt, Fib

The Post takes much pleasure in reporting that mayoral candidate Fernando Ferrer seems to have fibbed again regarding his personal experience with the city’s public school system — this after fibbing about it in a debate during the primary:

Fernando Ferrer yesterday got caught red-handed falsely claiming in a first-person account on his campaign Web site that he attended mostly city public schools.

“I was born in the South Bronx and educated in pubic schools for most of my education,” Ferrer wrote in a Sept. 6 personal blog entry posted on www.ferrer2005.com.

But the Democratic nominee for mayor was forced to remove the posting yesterday less than an hour Mayor Bloomberg’s re-election campaign blew the whistle on the tall tale — flunking Ferrer for rewriting his childhood history into fiction.

The statement to reporters from the Bloomberg campaign highlighted Ferrer’s public-school claim on his Web site — then listed the Catholic schools that he had attended beginning in the first grade and ending with his graduation from Cardinal Spellman HS in 1968.

. . .

Some observers speculated that Ferrer may be trying to downplay his parochial schooling to court the city’s teachers union or to bolster his assertion that he understands the struggles of working-class New Yorkers.

Uh, you think?

Did Bloomberg Cause 9/11?

Hizzoner’s opponents are questioning whether an image of Mayor Bloomberg against a backdrop of the view of Brooklyn and Queens from the World Trade Center is ghoulishly capitalizing on Sept. 11:

The re-election campaign of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg decided yesterday to stop using a photo, featured on the cover of thousands of its political fliers, that appears to depict Mr. Bloomberg atop the World Trade Center and credits him with “securing the future of all New Yorkers.”

Stu Loeser, a spokesman for the Bloomberg campaign, said yesterday afternoon that the photo had been taken from atop the trade center before it was destroyed on Sept. 11, 2001. He later called back to say he could not be certain, although a second, similar photo purchased by the campaign had definitely been taken from the towers.

. . .

Mr. Bloomberg’s Democratic opponent in the fall election campaign, Fernando Ferrer, declined to comment on the flier last night. Yet a spokeswoman for Mr. Ferrer, Christy Setzer, said about the flier: “We as a city came together on Sept. 11, and it’s wrong for anyone, Mike Bloomberg included, to use that day for political gain.”

Wiener Weiner Mayor, Wiener!

The Post interviews a bunch of Weiner backers who go there:

Voters in Anthony Weiner’s congressional district yesterday roasted the dropout Democrat over his decision to quit the mayoral race rather than take on Fernando Ferrer in a runoff.

“Get back in there,” fumed Johanna Cassidy, a bartender at the Austin Ale House in Kew Gardens. “He can’t just sit down and give up. Stop acting like a wiener!”

Of course Weiner’s supporters were just being principled:

Cassidy of Rego Park said she backed Weiner because he looked like a “regular guy” and because she wanted somebody who would take on Mayor Bloomberg “so I could smoke and have a drink at the same time.”

And let us not forget what’s most fun about this story, the Post-friendly adolescent humor:

The outrage prompted a stream of not-so-good-natured wisecracks that played off the 41-year-old congressman’s name.

“It was wrong! His name should be Oscar Meyer,” said Lou Valentine, 67, a Democrat.

Weiner maintained that it would be unwise and wasteful to go through with the runoff:

Weiner defended his decision to withdraw even though city elections officials say they are legally obligated to stage a runoff in two weeks, costing taxpayers as much as $12 million.

“It’s preposterous,” Weiner said of a runoff. “If the Board of Elections has to go through the kabuki dance on an election that cost us all $10 million that would be a shame.”

Weiner said his lawyers are busy trying to help avoid “a wasteful expenditure of money.”

“It’s not going to happen. Even my mother is not going to vote for me if there is a runoff,” quipped Weiner, who insisted he made the decision to quit on his own.