Schumer Calls for Security Upgrade at Penn Station

New York State’s senior senator Charles Schumer raised concern on Sunday about the threat of international terrorism at Penn Station, as he called for beefed up security measures at the country’s largest rail hub. It came days after a WNYC report found that Amtrak police are understaffed, under-equipped and under-trained.

While other law enforcement agencies also have jurisdiction for parts of Penn Station, a report from WNYC’s Stephen Nessen after a chaotic stampede on April 14 found that Amtrak police are the lead agency in charge of responding to emergencies and at any given time there are only five uniformed officers on duty.

“Terrorists have targeted transit hubs overseas — London, Madrid, Moscow — so it’s natural that people would worry. It’s natural that people would panic, and it’s imperative on the agencies here — Amtrak above all —to get their house in order and not let this happen again,” Schumer said.

Standing outside Penn Station at the Amtrak entrance, Schumer called for a joint command center for all the law enforcement agencies at the transit hub, more emergency preparedness drills to increase coordination among the agencies and more rail security funding from the federal government.

While Amtrak police are the lead agency at Penn Station, they coordinate with the New York City Police Department, Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police, New Jersey Transit Police, New York State Police, TSA VIPR Teams and the New York National Guard.

Schumer said one of the problems during this month's stampede was all those agencies didn’t know what was happening, so they could not help calm the frantic crowds.

Anthony De-Michael, a passenger at the station during the stampede (and a former Schumer intern), described running out of station and up a flight of stairs to the street.

“There [were] no announcements. I actually got to the top of the stairs over there and firefighters, and first responders were going, ‘What's going on?’ And I'm like, ‘uh shouldn't you know?’” said De-Michael.

Schumer said a joint command center would help ensure information reaches first responders and the public faster.

Amtrak spokesman Mike Tolbert said Amtrak has a joint command center that is activated in times of emergency or service disruption — but it is not a permanent fixture. He also said safety is the agency’s top priority and they are exploring ways to increase security.

Commuters at Penn Station offered a mixed reaction to Schumer’s proposals on Sunday.

“I do think having more police would help in preventing something,” said Michael Webb, who was traveling on Amtrak back home to Washington D.C. He said he was glad to hear anything about making train travel safer.

But the majority of commuters on Sunday expressed frustration about the daily commuting headaches they face while traveling through Penn Station.

“I haven't thought about security that much here before,” said Emma Dessau as she waited for NJ Transit. “I've thought about the fact that the trains suck.”

“We're waiting right now for train which is delayed, every train is delayed,” said Brendan McGovern, who lives near the station. He added, “I love Schumer. I think he's doing a great job. That incident that you're talking about [the stampede] occurs every so often. This happens every day. We're dealing with this problem every day.”

As Schumer was leaving his press conference on rail security fire trucks were arriving at Penn Station, and he stopped to ask an Amtrak Police captain about it.

It turned out Amtrak train 233 was stuck in a tunnel for 40 minutes due to engine trouble. No one was injured.