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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial | |
ARTICLE VIEW: | |
US Open heightens security in the wake of Midtown mass shooting | |
By Mark Morales, CNN | |
Updated: | |
5:00 AM EDT, Tue August 26, 2025 | |
Source: CNN | |
Tennis fans, many with the US Open’s signature in hand, are making | |
their way to New York City to watch . The focus will be on and which | |
newcomer could have a breakout tournament. | |
Law enforcement wants it to stay that way. | |
Almost a month after in New York City in the past 25 years, law | |
enforcement is flooding the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center | |
with police officers, security and advanced technology — all to make | |
sure the focus stays on the tennis. | |
Every high-profile attack, whether in New York or anywhere in the | |
world, causes the security plan to get a new wrinkle. More cement | |
blocks and road restrictions are in place after , like in New Orleans | |
that left 14 dead on New Year’s Day. | |
While NYPD’s Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counterterrorism | |
Rebecca Weiner says there are no credible threats to New York, an | |
attack like the Midtown mass shooting is still on the forefront of | |
everyone’s mind. | |
“That incident reenforces all the security preparations that we put | |
in place every year for this event,” Weiner tells CNN. “(It’s) | |
the reason that we lay down cement blocks, the reason we check | |
vehicles, the reason we screen people, not just as they’re entering | |
the threshold of this plaza but way before.” | |
Weiner says she and her team put a lot of thought into their security | |
plan, which was developed over the past few months. | |
Specialized NYPD units along with scores of both uniformed and | |
plain-clothed officers are out in droves, all handling the record crowd | |
which is projected to reach over one million spectators by the time the | |
high-profile tournament is over. There are heavy weapons teams posted | |
all over the venue, along with magnetometers to check spectators. | |
Canine units and anti-drone attack technology have even been deployed. | |
Specialized units, including bomb squad, aviation, mounted and | |
emergency service units, also patrol the grounds. | |
One of the emphases at the US Open, Weiner said, is using the | |
intelligence to intercept threats before they materialize. Another is | |
on hardening the perimeter compared to past years — including | |
thorough checkpoints for spectators, she said. | |
who stormed into 345 Park Avenue on July 28 was armed with an | |
AR-15-style rifle. captured him leaving his car near the building and | |
entering with an M4 assault-style rifle in hand before he , including a | |
real-estate executive and who was working as a security guard. | |
“Obviously that horrific incident, a large firearm, which was obvious | |
to the naked eye - we’re talking about making sure that smaller | |
objects, smaller weapons which are not obvious to the naked eye, are | |
also detected just as readily,” Weiner said. | |
The NYPD will run multiple interagency meetings each day of the | |
two-week tournament to review their security plans and make any | |
necessary adjustments for both the day sessions and the night sessions. | |
High-ranking officials will also be at a command center, located inside | |
the tennis center, where members of the NYPD’s Intelligence team are | |
shoulder-to-shoulder with the FBI, New York City Emergency Management, | |
the FDNY and other law enforcement and first responding partners, | |
according to Deputy Chief of Counterterrorism James Kehoe. | |
It’s a strategy that works during all major events and helps law | |
enforcement work together quickly, should they have to stop a threat, | |
Kehoe said. | |
The major challenge is executing the sophisticated security plan for | |
the US Open which takes place just a few feet away from Flushing Meadow | |
Corona Park - one of the largest public parks in New York City. | |
“If you go on the other side of the globe, you’ve got people | |
playing soccer, volleyball, barbecuing, the tents, picnics, so we try | |
to look at ‘where does the hardening perimeter start,’” Kehoe | |
said. | |
“We want to make sure we have a safe distance from the actual event | |
so if something should happen (it) would not be able to get through and | |
attack the US Open.” | |
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