Kelly: New WTC to be protected by 673 NYPD cops

Citing an enduring terror threat, New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly revealed Tuesday that the new World Trade Center will be protected by the largest concentration of police officers anywhere in the city.

When the complex rising at Ground Zero is completed, the NYPD will station 673 officers in and around the site, far more than at any single police precinct. The two largest precincts - the 75th in East New York,Brooklyn, and Midtown South in Manhattan - each have more than 400 officers, according to the department. There are about 34,800 officers on the force.

"We cannot dismiss the level of threat against this site, which remains squarely in the terrorists' crosshairs," Kelly said as he addressed the state of his department at a Police Foundation forum.

Kelly said an initial contingent of officers at the trade center complex will be in place, working from a command center to provide security checks, by the time the 9/11 Memorial Plaza opens on Sept. 11. The date is the 10th anniversary of the attack that toppled the Twin Towers and killed 2,752 people.Under a 2008 agreement with the Port Authority, the NYPD will be performing the vast majority of security duties for the rebuilt site, which will include six towers, the plaza and a museum.

Port Authority police will remain responsible for the PATH rail transit hub at the site, although the NYPD will have access to the facility.

The Port Authority Tuesday had no details on how many officers it will assign to the site.

Kelly's security concerns have already been factored into the design of 1,776-foot One World Trade Center building, once known as theFreedom Tower.

SEE PHOTOS9/11/2001 in photos

After the NYPD in 2004 pointed out vulnerabilities, the plan was revised to buttress the lower levels of the building against blasts, Kelly said. The building core is shielded by thick concrete and steel, according to Port Authority officials.

Kelly also disclosed Tuesday that certain streets around the site will allow unfettered access to pedestrians and bicyclists, while a "trusted access program" will allow vehicle entry for employees and visitors. Trucks will enter through a central inspection area and an underground road network, he added.

In 1993, a terrorist truck bomb in an underground trade center garage killed six people.

Security consultant Robert Strang, who runs the Investigative Management Group in New York, said the plan envisioned for the site is similar to what is in place around Wall Street and the Stock Exchange, where vehicle access is controlled by various checkpoints and mobile barriers while pedestrians can walk through.

"I think it is a great thing," said Strang.

NYPD spokesman Paul Browne told Newsday that the new trade center's full complement of 673 officers covering all shifts won't be reached until the project is finished.

"Their assignment will be years in the making, added incrementally, until the entire complex is finished and occupied," Browne said.

Browne added that the city is looking for space for a WTC command center in the area.

In his speech at the Regency Hotel, Kelly also raised more immediate concerns about international terrorism. He noted Britain's heightening of its alert status to "severe" for airports and railroad stations earlier this month.

"We have to be concerned about the potential for spillover here, especially given the ways in which travel and access to this country from abroad can be exploited by those who seek to do us harm," he said in a reference to visa waiver and asylum programs.