[rquoter]Plane stupid: Mayor Bloomberg outraged over military photo-op involving low-flying presidential jet BY FRANK LOMBARDI AND CORKY SIEMASZKO DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS Mayor Bloomberg went ballistic Monday after the U.S. military - without any warning to the public - buzzed New York City with one of the presidential planes trailed by an F-16 fighter jet. Flying in as low as 1000 feet to 150 feet above New York City and taking photographs along the way, the planes circled the Statue of Liberty and flew over Manhattan, Staten Island, and New Jersey - then vanished. Before they were gone, hundreds of frightened people had jammed the emergency lines, thousands of terrified people evacuated from buildings in the city and across the river in Jersey, and many New Yorkers had flashbacks to the 9/11 attacks. "I didn't know what was going on," said Eunice Davis, 41, of Brooklyn, who was evacuated from the New York Mercantile Exchange. "Some planes were circling the building. I was afraid. I was here when the World Trade Center went down." "We thought we were under attack again," added a shaken Wall Street worker, who declined to give his name. Angry that an unnamed but "dumb" city official failed to notify him of the Pentagon's plans, Bloomberg said a flyover so close to Ground Zero was insensitive and showed "poor judgement." He said the first he knew of it was when his BlackBerry began buzzing. It "defies the imagination," said Bloomberg, who insisted he would have tried to stop the shoot had he known about it. The NYPD confirmed that it had been told of the Pentagon's "aerial photo mission" last Thursday but ordered to stay quiet about it. Sen. Chuck Schumer called the whole incident "absolutely outrageous and appalling." "To think that the FAA would plan such a photo shoot and not warn the public, knowing full well that New Yorkers still have the vivid memory of 9/11 etched in their minds," he said. "In New York, of all places, to not warn the public that one of the largest jets in the county tailed by a fighter jet is going to fly low over their communities defies logic and borders on simply being cruel." Asked about the incident, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said only, "I have no information beyond what I saw" on news reports. The flyover was staged by the people whose job it is to protect us from terrorist attacks. The bigger plane was one of the customized Boeing 747s that serve as Air Force One when the President is aboard. President Obama was not on the flight. "This was a planned, pre-approved military flight over New York to take photos," said FAA spokesman Jim Peters. "It was pre-coordinated with everyone involved, including the city." The planes flew back to Andrews Air Foce Base in Maryland after scaring New York.[/rquoter] <object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/BMoy8JprKI0&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/BMoy8JprKI0&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>
How could anyone think that it was a good idea to do this and not notify the public? Of all places to do a photo-op, they choose to fly a 747 extremely low over Lower Manhattan? They couldn't use photo shop to do this?
Was the Whitehouse involved? According to the article it only mentions the Pentagon. [rquoter]The NYPD confirmed that it had been told of the Pentagon's "aerial photo mission" last Thursday but ordered to stay quiet about it. [/rquoter] Either way not a smart move and it also sounds like a city official might've screwed up not informing Bloomberg.
basso lied about something that he claimed was behind a subscriber's link when it wasn't. Do you really think he would have qualms about changing Pentagon to White House if he thinks it will help his cause?
yeah, it's not in that story, but i saw it reported elsewhere. WH Military Liaison or something. apparently Obama didn't know either.
Oh, okay. Cool. We'll totally take your word for it since you are a bastion of credibility on these boards. I mean except for the plagiarism, lying, ignoring repeated requests to explain the plagiarism and lying and generally being wrong about everything.
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