Heavily Guarded Metal Detector Mocked By Port Authority Commuters

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — New Yorkers entering one of the city's busiest transit hubs will have to pass through an extra layer of security following the NYPD's installation of a heavily-guarded metal detector between the Port Authority Bus Terminal and the connecting subway station.

The screening device was installed Wednesday as part of an NYPD pilot program to make the subway system safer. Exactly one year ago, Brooklyn resident Akayed Ullah detonated a homemade pipe bomb in the tunnels connecting Port Authority to Times Square.

"Our officers working with our [Port Authority] Police partners this morning at the Port Authority Bus Terminal / 42nd Street subway station in our constant effort to keep travelers safe," reads a tweet on the NYPD's transit police account.

The post was accompanied by a photo of the new metal detector flanked by seven heavily-armed police officers and a German shepherd. Notably missing from the photo — commuters.

The show of force was panned by many on social media as "security theater."

"This is so unhelpful and makes no sense to the daily commute of thousands of NYers and NJers. This is a nuisance, not a security measure," one commenter said on Twitter.

Another commenter noted that the officers in the photo appear to be guarding the new device "in case anyone tries to use it."

NYPD officials told NY1's Dean Meminger that the metal detector is a "counterterrorism overlay" meant to supplement K-9 units and bag checks. Subway passengers will be chosen at random to use the scanners and the NYPD is considering expanding the program to other subway stations, Meminger reported.

Ullah was convicted in November on charges of providing material support to ISIS, using a weapon of mass destruction, bombing a place of public use, destruction and attempted destruction of property by means of fire or explosives, conducting a terrorist attack against a mass transportation system and using a destructive device during a crime of violence

A Port Authority spokeswoman referred inquires about the program to the NYPD. An NYPD spokesperson did not return Patch's request for comment. This article will be updated if the NYPD responds.

Photo courtesy NYPD Transit