City officials plan to conduct mock-emergency drills to test their agencies’ preparedness for a disaster or terror attack at the upcoming Republican National Convention.
“There will be exercises,” said Police Commissioner Ray Kelly after a drill yesterday in lower Manhattan that simulated a terror attack on the subway system, and tested the ability of emergency responders to deal with it.
“As we get closer to the convention, we’ll have exercises similar to this in nature.”
When asked if such drills will be held at Madison Square Garden – where the convention will begin Aug. 30 – and Penn Station below, Kelly said, “It will be either in that location or a location that replicates situations that could happen during the convention.”
Mayor Bloomberg said, “You will see an awful lot more police present on subways and on trains . . . in and out of this city during the Republican convention, just because it’s the kind of event that if somebody wanted to attack, it’s more likely then.”