"Checkpoints set up at Newark Liberty"

Monday, July 2, 2007

Checkpoints set up at Newark Liberty
Extra security steps taken at area airports 
BY RALPH R. ORTEGA
The Newark (NJ) Star-Ledger


Special measures were taken at Newark Liberty International and other area
airports yesterday after the Glasgow airport attack, authorities said. 

Steve Coleman, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New
Jersey, declined to give specifics about what was supplemented to the
already-heightened level of security in place since the Sept. 11 attacks.
"We supplement that level with additional measures as conditions warrant,"
he said. 

In Newark, Port Authority Police set up two different checkpoints for
vehicles driving into the airport yesterday that created significant traffic
backups. 

One was along the Routes 1&9 approach from the New Jersey Turnpike, using a
combination of police cruisers, sport utility vehicles and pylons to
bottleneck the roadway. Officers pulled some vehicles -- mostly trucks and
larger cars -- onto a traffic island for further inspection and to check
motorist identifications. 

A second police checkpoint was set up by the exit ramp to Terminal A, where
police pulled over buses and airport shuttles. Drivers were asked to produce
lists of the passengers they were carrying. Makeshift signs also restricted
British Airways passengers to specific lanes as they drove, or were driven,
to the airport. 

Measures were also in place at La Guardia and John F. Kennedy International
airports. Passengers got a scare in the morning at JFK when they were forced
to partially evacuate an American Airlines terminal because of a carry-on
cosmetics bag that was left unattended at a curb. 

The New York City police bomb squad was called to inspect the bag after it
was discovered about 10:20 a.m., and found that it contained a bottle of
cologne, Coleman said. 

The bag was deemed "harmless," according to Coleman, and full access to the
terminal was restored about 11:30 a.m. 

Port Authority precautions leading into Fourth of July holiday travel this
week coincided with the addition of air marshals on overseas flights. 

Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff appeared on weekend talk
shows saying air marshals were being added because of concerns over
potential terrorism threats originating in Britain and Europe. 

Despite the tighter security after an SUV was set ablaze and used to ram the
main terminal of Glasgow Airport on Saturday, the nation's terrorism alert
level remained at its current level of yellow (elevated), and orange (high)
at the airports, the Associated Press reported. 

"I think given what we know now, we're comfortable that we're at the right
posture," Chertoff said. 

Five people were hurt after the green Jeep Cherokee crashed through glass
doors just yards from passengers at check-in counters in what British
authorities said was apparently a failed suicide mission in Glasgow. 

The attack came a day after two car bombs were discovered in London. Police
said they suspect the bombs and SUV crash have a connection.

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