New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 9 - EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT › Subtitle A - Governor's Office › Chapter I - Executive Orders › Part 8 - Executive Orders (Andrew M. Cuomo) › Section 8.148 - Executive Order No. 148: Declaring an Emergency in Order to Appoint New Jersey and Connecticut Police Officers as Railroad Police Officers to Provide Enhanced Security on Commuter Trains, Buses, and Ferries

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
WHEREAS, the holiday season, including Hanukkah, Christmas
					 Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year's Eve and Day, is a time of heightened alert
					 and increased risk of terrorist attacks as terrorists typically consider
					 significant, symbolic dates when planning attacks, with the objective of
					 inflicting mass casualties and maximizing the economic and psychological damage
					 to the United States, as evidenced by the 2009 Christmas Day plot to blow up a
					 Detroit-bound airliner; the November 2010 plot to bomb a holiday tree lighting
					 ceremony in Portland, Oregon by a homegrown violent extremist; the December
					 2010 attack on a market filled with Christmas shoppers in Stockholm, Sweden by
					 a suicide bomber; and the December 2010 arrests in the United Kingdom of 12
					 individuals plotting to conduct attacks during the holiday season; and
WHEREAS, New York State has been subject to terrorist
					 attacks, including the World Trade Center bombing in 1993; the attacks on the
					 World Trade Center on September 11, 2001; the Brooklyn Bridge Plot in 2003; the
					 Financial Centers Plot in 2004 targeting the New York Stock Exchange and
					 Citigroup Center in New York City and the Prudential Plaza in Newark, New
					 Jersey; the 2007 plot to blow up jet fuel supply tanks and the pipeline that
					 fed the tanks located underneath the John F. Kennedy International Airport; the
					 May 2009 plot to bomb a Bronx synagogue and the Stewart Air National Guard
					 Base; the failed plot of Faisal Shahzad in May 2010; the May 2011 plot by Ahmed
					 Ferhani and Mohamed Mamdouh to bomb New York City synagogues, during which
					 Ferhani and Mamdouh discussed additional targets in New York City, including
					 churches and the Empire State Building; the October 2012 foiled attempt by
					 Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis to detonate a 1,000 pound car bomb outside
					 the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in Lower Manhattan; the planned attacks by
					 Quazi and his brother in November 2012 directed at landmarks in New York; and
					 the 2014 indictment of Mufid Elfgeeh, a Rochester resident who is alleged to
					 have provided material support to the Islamic State (often referred to as ISIS
					 or ISIL), all of which demonstrate that terrorists continue to pose a
					 persistent threat to the State of New York; and
WHEREAS, while there is no known confirmed threat to the
					 New York metropolitan area, New York transportation systems have been
					 repeatedly targeted by terrorists, including: the 2013 al-Qa'ida - directed
					 plot to derail a passenger train traveling from Toronto to New York; the Zazi
					 plot against New York City subways in 2009; the 2008 plot by Bryant Neal Vinas
					 aimed at the Long Island Railroad; the 2006 plot to bomb the Port
					 Authority-Trans Hudson (PATH) train tunnels; and the 2004 plot to bomb Herald
					 Square in Manhattan. The targeting of transportation systems by terrorist
					 groups is further demonstrated by the bombings in London in 2005 and in Madrid
					 in 2004; and
WHEREAS, hundreds of thousands of commuters travel between
					 the states of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut via mass transit systems
					 that include interstate rail, bus, and ferry systems accessible to the public,
					 and enhanced law enforcement presence on these conveyances is prudent to
					 protect public safety; and
WHEREAS, on September 24, 2014, in response to heightened
					 concerns of terrorist activities, New York State and New Jersey formalized a
					 counterterrorism partnership through a Memorandum of Understanding whereby
					 additional security measures and protocols were agreed upon in an effort to
					 bolster the security posture of the Bi-State Region; and
WHEREAS, the Islamic State continues to use social media
					 sites to repeatedly call on sympathizers to carry out attacks within the United
					 States and Western countries in any manner or way; and
WHEREAS, 130 people were murdered and 352 people were
					 injured in multiple, simultaneous terrorist attacks in Paris, France on
					 November 13, 2015; and at least 20 people were murdered in a November 20, 2015
					 terrorist attack in Bamako, Mali; and
WHEREAS, the Islamic State recently released a propaganda
					 video containing images of New York City purportedly under attack; and
WHEREAS, various terrorist groups continue to issue threats
					 in an attempt to motivate homegrown terror attacks in the United States;
					 and
WHEREAS, 14 people were murdered and 21 people were injured
					 in a mass shooting in San Bernardino, California on December 2, 2015;
					 and
WHEREAS, New York's sister states, Connecticut and New
					 Jersey, have agreed to deploy police officers to provide increased security on
					 commuter trains, buses, and ferries going in and out of New York State;
					 and
WHEREAS, sworn members of the Connecticut State Police,
					 sworn police officers of any county or municipality in the State of
					 Connecticut, sworn members of the New Jersey State Police, and sworn police
					 officers of any county or municipality in the State of New Jersey are
					 restricted in their law enforcement authority once such a conveyance crosses
					 the jurisdictional boundary between Connecticut and New York or between New
					 Jersey and New York; and
WHEREAS, New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut are all
					 members of the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC), which allows for
					 mutual assistance and resource sharing among sister states; and
WHEREAS, the EMAC provides that emergency forces from the
					 sending state, while operating within the jurisdictional boundaries of the
					 receiving state pursuant to the compact, shall have the same powers (except
					 that of arrest, unless specifically authorized by the receiving state), duties,
					 rights and privileges as are afforded forces of the receiving state in which
					 they are performing emergency services; and
WHEREAS, to utilize the police resources provided by New
					 York's sister states, New York State must confer police officer powers,
					 including arrest powers, on such officers while they are within its geographic
					 jurisdiction; and
WHEREAS, Section 88  of the Railroad Law authorizes the
					 Superintendent of the State Police to appoint any person as a railroad police
					 officer only under prescribed circumstances and subject to certain limitations;
					 and
WHEREAS, if such circumstances and limitations were applied
					 to sworn members of the Connecticut State Police, sworn police officers of any
					 county or municipality in the State of Connecticut, sworn members of the New
					 Jersey State Police, and sworn police officers of any county or municipality in
					 the State of New Jersey who are serving as railroad police officers from 12:01
					 A.M. on December 9, 2015 through 12:01 A.M. on January 2, 2016, such
					 application would prevent, hinder and delay action necessary to respond to a
					 terrorist attack or a threat thereof; and
WHEREAS, Section 29-a  of the Executive Law authorizes the
					 suspension, alteration and modification of statutes, local laws, ordinances,
					 orders, rules or regulations, or parts thereof, if compliance with such
					 provisions would prevent, hinder or delay action necessary to cope with a
					 disaster emergency and the inclusion of any other terms and conditions;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, ANDREW M. CUOMO, Governor of the State
					 of New York, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and
					 the Laws of the State of New York, do hereby find that a disaster may be
					 imminent to which the affected local governments are unable to respond
					 adequately without assistance. Therefore, pursuant to the authority vested in
					 me by the Constitution of the State of New York and Section 28 of Article 2-B
					 of the Executive Law, I hereby declare a State Disaster Emergency effective
					 December 9, 2015; and
FURTHER, pursuant to the authority vested in me by Section 29-a  of the Executive Law to temporarily suspend and modify specific provisions
					 of any statute, local law, ordinance, order, rule or regulation, or parts
					 thereof, of any agency during a State Disaster Emergency, if compliance with
					 such provisions would prevent, hinder or delay action necessary to cope with
					 the disaster, I hereby temporarily suspend and modify, for the period from
					 12:01 AM on December 9, 2015 until 12:01 AM on January 2, 2016, the following
					 laws for purposes of appointment of sworn members of the Connecticut State
					 Police, sworn police officers of any county or municipality in the State of
					 Connecticut, sworn members of the New Jersey State Police, and sworn police
					 officers of any county or municipality in the State of New Jersey as Railroad
					 Police; and
FURTHER, Subdivision 1 of Section 88  of the Railroad Law
					 insofar as it requires the Superintendent of the State Police to appoint
					 railroad police officers only upon the application of a corporation, express
					 company, or steamboat company, is modified to the extent necessary to allow the
					 Governor to appoint, and I do hereby appoint, sworn members of the Connecticut
					 State Police, sworn police officers of any county or municipality in the State
					 of Connecticut, sworn members of the New Jersey State Police, and sworn police
					 officers of any county or municipality in the State of New Jersey as railroad
					 police officers, and to include all rail and bus facilities and property owned,
					 operated or in the custody or control of the Port Authority of New York and New
					 Jersey or its subsidiaries, the Metropolitan Transit Authority or its
					 subsidiaries, New Jersey Transit or its subsidiaries, and ferries certified to
					 carry passengers to and from New York State; and Subdivisions 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
					 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16 and 17 of Section 88  of the Railroad Law, as
					 necessary to effectuate this Order; and
FURTHER, this Order shall take effect at 12:01 AM on
					 December 9, 2015 and shall remain in effect until 12:01 AM on January 2, 2016,
					 and may be extended, with further notice consistent with section 29-a  of the
					 Executive Law, upon consideration of a continued heightened alert of terrorist
					 attack, at which time the suspension of laws may be extended upon consideration
					 of a continued heightened alert of terrorist attack.
Signed: Andrew M. Cuomo
Dated: December 8, 2015