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 8.124 - Executive Order. No. 124: 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 2014 Super Bowl will be held on Sunday,
					 February 2, 2014 at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey;
					 and
WHEREAS, an estimated 500,000 or more people will be
					 visiting the New York City area to attend the Super Bowl and related public
					 events and festivities in the days preceding the Super Bowl; and
WHEREAS, thousands of commuters are expected to travel
					 between the states of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut to attend the Super
					 Bowl and related public events and festivities via mass transit systems that
					 include interstate rail, bus and ferry systems accessible to the public, and an
					 enhanced law enforcement presence on these conveyances is prudent to protect
					 public safety; and
WHEREAS, terrorists have used explosive and other devices
					 to attack public and private transportation systems, as demonstrated by the
					 bombings in London in 2005 and in Madrid in 2004, and while there is no known
					 confirmed threat to the New York metropolitan area, the mass transit systems of
					 New York, New Jersey and Connecticut are particularly high-risk targets;
					 and
WHEREAS, the completed and attempted attacks in New York,
					 including the 2012 plot by Raess Alam Qazi and his brother to carry out attacks
					 at landmarks in New York; the plot against the PATH railway system by Assem
					 Hammoud in 2006; the plot against New York City subways by Najibullah Zazi in
					 2009; 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 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; and
					 the 2004 plot by Shahawar Matin Siraj and James Elshafay to bomb the Herald
					 Square (34th Street) subway station and other mass transit stations in
					 Manhattan demonstrate that terrorists continue to pose a persistent threat to
					 the State of New York; and
WHEREAS, athletic events and mass gatherings have been
					 subject to terror plots, including the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings which
					 killed 3 people and injured 264 others; the 1996 Centennial Olympic Park
					 bombing in Atlanta where two people were killed; and the 1972 Olympic Games in
					 Munich where 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage and
					 eventually killed; and
WHEREAS, New York's sister states, Connecticut and New
					 Jersey, have agreed to deploy police officers from their states to provide
					 increased security on commuter trains, buses and ferries going to and from 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 from Connecticut to New York or from New Jersey to
					 New York respectively; 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, 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 our
					 sister states, it is necessary to confer police officer powers, including
					 arrest powers, on such officers while they are within the geographic
					 jurisdiction of New York State; 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 police officers from New York's sister states who are serving as
					 railroad police officers from January 26, 2014, through February 3, 2014, 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 to which the
					 affected local governments are unable to respond adequately without assistance
					 may be imminent. 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 January
					 26, 2014; 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 January 26, 2014 until 12:01 AM on February 3, 2014, 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:
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 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
					 January 26, 2014 and shall remain in effect until 12:01 AM on February 3,
					 2014.
Signed: Andrew M. Cuomo
Dated: January 24, 2014