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 8.208 - Executive Order No. 206: Declaring a Disaster in the Counties of Bronx, Dutchess, Kings, Nassau, New York, Orange, Putnam, Queens, Richmond, Rockland, Suffolk, Westchester and Contiguous Counties

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
WHEREAS, the holiday season is a time of heightened alert
					 and increased risk of terrorist attack 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 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; the December 2010 arrests in the United
					 Kingdom of 12 individuals plotting to conduct attacks during the holiday
					 season; the December 2016 attack in Berlin where a truck was driven into a
					 crowd of people located at the Christmas market next to the Kaiser Wilhelm
					 Memorial Church; the 2016 nightclub attack in Istanbul that left 39 people dead
					 during a New Year's Eve celebration in 2016; the December 2017 bombing in a
					 tunnel in New York City"TMs Port Authority Bus Terminal, which was inspired by
					 the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria ("ÜISIS") Christmas propaganda and
					 conducted after the attacker saw holiday-themed posters on the tunnel walls;
					 the continued threats issued in 2018 by pro-ISIS social media users calling for
					 ISIS supporters to conduct attacks during the upcoming holiday season; and the
					 December 2018 active shooter attack by a terrorist at a popular Christmas
					 Market in Strasbourg, France, which killed 5 and injured 11 more;
WHEREAS, New York State has been subject to terrorist
					 attacks and plots, 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; the 2014 indictment of Mufid Elfgeeh, a Rochester
					 resident who is alleged to have provided material support to ISIS; the
					 September 2016 attack in New York City involving a pressure cooker style bomb
					 that injured more than 30 people and involved additional detonated and
					 undetonated devices; the October 2017 attack in Lower Manhattan involving
					 Sayfullo Saipov, who drove a rented Home Depot truck down a bike path killing
					 eight people and injuring 12; the October 2018 plot by a Rockland County man to
					 detonate a 200 pound explosive device on Election Day; the October 2018 package
					 bombs that were sent to multiple locations in New York, including CNN"TMs
					 Headquarters in NYC and a Westchester residence; the Queens resident who was
					 arrested in June 2019 for purchasing firearms with obliterated serial numbers
					 and was plotting to attack Times Square; the Brooklyn man who was arrested in
					 November 2019 for allegedly disseminating ISIS propaganda and bomb-making
					 instructions in an effort to incite violence in New York City and elsewhere;
					 and the machete attack during Hanukkah in Monsey, New York on December 28,
					 2019. All of these examples demonstrate that terrorists continue to pose a
					 persistent threat to the State of New York;
WHEREAS, while there is no known confirmed threat to the
					 New York City metropolitan area, New York transportation systems have been
					 repeatedly targeted by terrorists, including: the previously mentioned 2017
					 Port Authority Bombing; the 2016 plot by three men planning to conduct bombings
					 and shootings in Times Square and within the City's subway system during the
					 month of Ramadhan on behalf of ISIS; 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 bombing on the Saint Petersburg Metro in Russia and
					 the Parsons Green tube station in London, England in 2017; the bombings at an
					 airport and metro station in Brussels, Belgium in 2016; and coordinated
					 bombings across London's mass transit system in 2005 and in Madrid in
					 2004;
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;
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;
WHEREAS, the ISIS 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;
WHEREAS, 131 people were murdered and 413 more were injured
					 in multiple, simultaneous terrorist attacks in Paris, France on November 13,
					 2015; at least 20 people were murdered in a November 20, 2015 terrorist attack
					 in Bamako, Mali; 32 people were killed and more than 300 people were injured
					 after three coordinated suicide bombings at an airport and metro station in
					 Brussels, Belgium on March 22, 2016; 86 people were murdered and 434 people
					 were injured after a terrorist attack on a Bastille Day celebration in Nice,
					 France on July 14, 2016; 5 people were murdered and 49 more injured on the
					 Westminster Bridge and areas outside of the Parliament Building in a vehicle
					 and knife attack in London, England on March 22, 2017; 5 people were murdered
					 and 14 people were injured in a truck attack in Stockholm, Sweden on April 7,
					 2017; 22 people were murdered outside of Manchester Arena in Manchester,
					 England on May 22, 2017; 8 people were murdered and 48 people injured during an
					 attack on and around London Bridge in London, England on June 3, 2017; 16
					 people were murdered and 152 people were injured in multiple attacks involving
					 vehicles, knives and explosives in Las Ramblas, Barcelona and Cambrils in
					 Catalonia, Spain between August 17 and 18, 2017; 4 people were murdered and 15
					 people were injured in March 2018 during an ISIS-inspired active shooter attack
					 and hostage situation in Trebes, France; authorities in the Netherlands foiled
					 a complex coordinated attack in September 2018 by arresting 7 men who planned
					 to target a mass gathering event with firearms and explosives; 4 people were
					 killed and 2 were injured at the Central Police headquarters in Paris, France,
					 after a radicalized terrorist went on a stabbing spree in October 2019; and 2
					 people were stabbed to death and 3 more were injured near London Bridge in
					 November 2019, by a terrorist wielding a knife and wearing a hoax suicide
					 vest;
WHEREAS, 49 people were murdered and 53 people were injured
					 in a terrorist attack on the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida on June 12,
					 2016; 13 people were injured in a terrorist attack perpetrated by Abdul Artan
					 at the Ohio State University on November 28, 2016; threats were issued in 2016
					 involving the 90th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City; 59
					 people were murdered and more than 800 were injured during a mass shooting in
					 Las Vegas on October 1, 2017; 26 people were murdered and 20 people were
					 injured in a church shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas on November 5, 2017;
					 2 people were murdered and 5 were injured in March 2018 after several package
					 bombs were sent indiscriminately to residents of Texas; 11 people were murdered
					 and 6 people were injured in an anti-Semitic active shooter attack in October
					 2018 at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and 12 people
					 were murdered and more than 20 people were injured in a November 2018 shooting
					 at a restaurant in Thousand Oaks, California;
WHEREAS, the ISIS has released a propaganda video
					 containing images of New York City purportedly under attack;
WHEREAS, various terrorist groups continue to issue threats
					 in an attempt to motivate homegrown terror attacks in the United States;
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;
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;
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;
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;
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;
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;
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 30, 2019 through 12:01 A.M. on January 3, 2020, such
					 application would prevent, hinder, and delay action necessary to respond to a
					 terrorist attack or a threat thereof;
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 actions 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 in effect as of December 30, 2020;
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 30, 2020 until 12:01 AM on January 3,
					 2021, 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;
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 through 17 of
Section 88  of the Railroad Law
,
					 as necessary to effectuate this Order; and
FURTHER, this Order shall in effect at 12:01 AM on December
					 30, 2020 and shall remain in effect until 12:01 AM on January 3, 2021, 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 30, 2020