NYC kicks off holidays with heavy security

• 3 million expected for 89th annual parade
• NYPD has unveiled new Critical Response Command, with 500 officers specially trained in counter-terrorism
• Metro North will have expanded service and enhanced security all holiday weekend

NEW YORK - Heavy security will accompany the balloons, floats and live entertainment at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade on Thursday as millions of residents and tourists balance anxiety over global terrorism with enjoyment of one of New York's grandest events.

While New York City officials have said there are no credible threats aimed at the city in the wake of Islamic State's attacks in France, they remind New Yorkers to remain vigilant and law enforcement authorities will be out in large numbers and on high alert before, during and after the parade.

The NYPD last week deployed the first 100 officers of its new Critical Response Command, an elite counter-terrorism unit that will eventually grow to 500 officers. That unit and other heavily armed police officers will be among the more than 1,800 city cops patrolling the parade route.

New Yorkers have had a heightened sense of security since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, but recent events have triggered an added sense of anxiety. The triple attack in Paris that claimed 130 lives Nov. 13 followed the Islamic State bombing of a Russian jetliner over the Sinai Desert in Egypt. This week, the entire city of Brussels was on lockdown over an imminent threat of a terrorist attack.

Last week, Islamic State released a video that included images of Times Square and other New York locations and showed a suicide bomber planning an attack. Officials have said the footage was old and did not signify any plot was underway.

But for Javier Lamicq of Eastchester, the Paris attacks were a game changer. He and his family went to the parade last year and had a lot of fun. But this year they'll be content to watch on television.

"After Paris, my wife immediately said we shouldn't go. And she's right," Lamicq said Tuesday after getting off a Metro-North train at Grand Central Terminal. "You have to put your family before everything. It was fun but it's not worth it if anything happened."

But Jeanette Collins of Ardsley will head to the city to enjoy the parade with her grandkids, who are visiting from California.

"Why put fear in everybody? We have to go about our lives like we did before all this," said Collins as she and her family walked through Grand Central to start their sightseeing. "They watch it every year on TV but they've never been to it, so we're very excited. Hopefully, nothing will happen."

Collins sounded a lot like New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton last week when he sought to emphasize the city's safety. His grandchildren are making their first trip to New York, also from California, and he said he had no qualms about taking them to enjoy the parade in person.

Still, many have their doubts.

Lucia Traynor doesn't attend the parade regularly but the new spate of terrorism is going to keep her from attending New York's signature big events.
Her best friend will be bringing her family from Florida for New Year's but they are going to skip Times Square for the ball drop.

"We were all going to go. We planned for it for months," Traynor said on her way to work. "But it's just not worth it. It's hard to see how they can protect everyone in those situations."

Traynor, who lives in New Rochelle, does not expect to otherwise change her routines but could not ignore news of soft targets and lone wolves.

"It's a new norm we're living with," she said. "I'm not going to stop coming into the city, doing what I have to do. But to go and put yourself in a situation that is more vulnerable doesn't seem right."

Security expert Robert Strang said parade-goers should feel safe, particularly in the absence of a legitimate threat against the city. The parade may be a huge event but New York has plenty of them. If officials believed there was any danger, they would tell people to stay home, Strang said.

He called the "full-court press" by the NYPD, FBI and Homeland Security — including more uniformed officers, sharpshooters, constant sharing of intelligence — an effort that makes "everyone as safe as they can be."

"We can't change the way we live because we have a general threat against us," Strang said. "You have to be aware of your surroundings; You have to have an exit plan. This is the world we live in but you have to go about your lives."

Expanded train service for the holidays comes as Metro-North and the MTA police have stepped up security measures, including more uniformed and plainclothes patrols, police with assault rifles, and extra police canine units in various stations and at Grand Central. Aaron Donovan, an MTA spokesman, said customers may see additional "step-on, step-off" patrols on trains and random bag checks throughout the system but no service delays. Despite no specific threat to the rail system, Donovan said, passengers must continue to remain alert and heed the "see something, say something" mantra.

On Monday, New York state made that a bit easier, unveiling a new app called "See Something, Send Something" that allows cellphone users to alert authorities about suspicious packages or activity without having to know which law enforcement agency to contact.

Twitter: @jonbandler