"Times Square: Mayday on May Day!"

It's time to Break It Down!

New York, New York, the city so nice they named it twice. There are "those" who argue, New York is the greatest city in the world. Then there are those who contend most of "those" people must live there. Undoubtedly, New York is an acquired taste. But there can be no argument; it is a great city.

Population alone dictates that. New York City (NYC) has the most residents of any city in the United States, has the highest density of any city in America, and is surrounded by the largest Metropolitan Statistical Area in the country. According to 2008 Census figures over 8.3 million people live in New York. That is more than live in the 2nd and 3rd largest cities combined. Los Angeles, and Chicago boast populations of 3.8 million, and 2.8 million, respectively; totaling 6.6 million.

But New York is far more than numbers of people. It is home to Wall Street, long considered the economic engine of the world. It is anchored by the historic Empire State Building, and contains Liberty Island, site of the Statue of Liberty. It has Staten Island/Ferry, and the Hudson River.

New York, and its five Boroughs (Manhattan, Brooklyn, The Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island) comprise America’s Sports Central; home to the Yankees and Mets, the Knicks and soon the Nets (again), the Rangers and the Islanders, the Jets, and for all practical purposes, the Giants, still, even though the Meadowlands is technically in East Rutherford, New Jersey (it is only 7 miles from Midtown Manhattan). And don’t forget, “The City” is the original home of the Dodgers-Giants rivalry, which is the longest standing feud in professional baseball, having begun in 1883.

In short, NYC is a metaphor for America; it is mom and apple pie. Yes, there are the beautiful people, the bond traders, and the world class athletes; billionaires. But the working classes also abide there; those who were tired and poor; huddled masses yearning to breathe free, wretched refuse of teeming shores; the homeless and tempest tossed. Every demographic segment drawn by or attributed to the Statue de la Liberte is present in NYC. The city exemplifies our style, it symbolizes our success, and yes, it demonstrates in sometimes blinding fashion, the wretched excesses of American life. This inescapable symbolism is the compelling ingredient that has made New York a catalyst; a magnet, irresistible to radicals and terrorists from around the world, as well as from around the way.

It is that kind of moth-to-a-flame attraction that resulted in the latest terrorist assault on New York City; a May 1, 2010 failed car bombing in Times Square by Faisal Shahzad. Authorities continue to investigate myriad threads to this potentially horrific incident. Mr. Shahzad was captured and detained after boarding an airplane at John F. Kennedy International Airport, May 3, 2010. Set to leave the country for Dubai, his ultimate destination was Islamabad, Pakistan.

Mr. Shahzad is a naturalized U.S citizen who was born in Pakistan in 1979, attended primary school in Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan, matriculated at now-defunct Southeastern University in Washington, DC, and in Bridgeport Connecticut, where he graduated from Bridgeport College (University of Bridgeport) in 2002. Ensuing from a web of events and circumstances still being untangled, authorities report the suspect confessed and implicated himself in plot that involves other terrorists, home-grown and foreign.

In one of the more controversial and highly politically charged aspects of the investigation, Shahzad was Mirandized.While there are many outspoken critics of ceding terror suspects the protections offered by Miranda Rights, all appearances are that Mr. Shahzad is continuing to cooperate. CBS News, and other outlets have reported that the suspect admitted to participating in a bomb making training session run by a radical Islamist faction.

From time to time life has a way of unfolding in perfect order; the antithesis of a pefect storm. In some ways, this was what happened with Faisal Shahzad’s assault on NYC. After launching his horrendous scheme, apparently, Shahzad’s plans were plagued by the same lack of attention to detail as some of his early collegiate studies, when he received several C’s D’s, and at least one F. His handiwork lacked, either sufficient precision, or the proper ingredients, and as a result, failed to ignite as planned. Meanwhile, several attentive street vendors noticed a burning, or firecracker-like odor, and quickly alerted nearby police officers.

In the aftermath of Shahzad’s actions, the vendors initiated a “Times Square Mayday on May Day!” Were it not for the sheer gravity of the potential consequences of his actions, this whole matter might be considered little more than a farce. At first glance, one may be uncertain whether to attribute the fact the episode did not escalate, or materialize as designed to Shahzad’s ineptitude, or New Yorkers’ May Day good fortune.

In the final analysis, one may be certain beyond doubt, New Yorkers, and in fact, all Americans dodged a proverbial bullet May 1st. Monday, CNN’s John King asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates, “How many more home-grown terrorists, like Shahzad, do we have in our midst?” With genuine candor, the Secretary responded, “There is no way to know.” In other words, as has been the case for some time, the “new normal,” or perhaps it should be called the “revised regular,” for it is hardly new anymore, requires that we adjust out focus. While we cannot afford to ignore external threats to our collective health, welfare, and safety, we must, by necessity, concern ourselves, increasingly, with “the enemy from within.”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com/. A new post is published each Wednesday. For more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post, consult the links below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faisal_Shahzad

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/05/11/times.square.media/index.html?hpt=T2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Times_Square

http://abcnews.go.com/US/nycs-times-square-evacuated-bomb-scare/story?id=10530777

http://www.ajc.com/news/nycs-times-square-evacuated-522349.html

http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2010/05/jihad-in-nyc-times-square-evacuated-because-of-bomb-device.html

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/05/07/times-square-evacuated-after-suspicious-package-found/

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/may/03/nation/la-na-newyork-car-bomb-20100503

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York,_New_York_(So_Good_They_Named_It_Twice)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Yankees

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Mets

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Knicks

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Jersey_Nets

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Rangers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Islanders

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Jets

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Giants

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodgers%E2%80%93Giants_rivalry

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/05/10/interview_with_defense_secretary_robert_gates_105538.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_Street