U.S.
Mary Altaffer / AP Photo
Mayor Bill de Blasio said New York City will not be intimidated by a newly released video by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) which shows images of Times Square.
“There is no credible and specific threat against New York City," de Blasio said during a news conference Wednesday night.
“Stoking fear is the goal of terrorist organizations, but New York City will not be intimidated,” de Blasio said, encouraging New Yorkers to “go about their business” as normal, while remaining watchful.
The video was released Wednesday, just a week before the city goes into full holiday mode with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade followed by the Christmas tree lighting in Rockefeller Center. These and other events attract tens of millions of visitors each year.
ISIL has claimed credit for Friday's attacks in Paris that killed 129 people in shootings and suicide bombings at a concert hall, restaurants and a soccer stadium in Paris.
The assault on the French capital stirred memories in New York of the Sept. 11, 2001, hijacked plane attacks that felled the World Trade Center's Twin Towers, killing more than 2,600 people.
The ISIL video, which runs for nearly six minutes, includes a scene that appears to show a suicide bomber making preparations and zipping up a jacket, according to a description provided by SITE Intelligence Group, a Bethesda, Maryland, organization that tracks groups like ISIL.
Police Commissioner William Bratton said at the news conference with the mayor that the video appears to be a “hastily produced” one using old film footage.
The clip briefly shows Times Square and Herald Square, two Midtown Manhattan crossroads popular with tourists, and a suicide bomber holding what appears to be a trigger. Most of the footage is scenes of Paris and French President Francois Hollande.
“Footage of New York shown in the ISIS video was taken from a video released by the group in April of this year. So while NYC is, and has been, a target for ISIS, today’s video does not warrant any kind of panic,” SITE director Rita Katz said in an email to Reuters.
The FBI said through a spokeswoman it was aware of news reports about the video and “ongoing terrorist threats to NYC,” and would fully investigate.
A New York Police Department spokesman said some of the video footage is old but the video reaffirms the message the city remains a top target for extremists.
“While there is no current or specific threat to the city at this time, we will remain at a heightened state of vigilance and will continue to work with the FBI, the Joint Terrorism Task Force and the entire intelligence community,” said Stephen Davis, the NYPD's deputy commissioner for public information.
De Blasio said that the NYPD this week “initiated the first wave of our new Critical Response Command, which will grow to 500 officers specifically dedicated to anti-terrorism activities,” he said.
The new unit will supplement an existing 1,000-officer counterterrorism program, police said.
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