CIA in NYC

[Peter Wayner]

>Moreover, it is unlikely that the purpose of the CIA station
>was only that made public to the Times. More likely is
>that the public story is a cover for what the station did.

I went to a meeting in the WTC this spring. It took a half hour to 
get through security because they had to type all kinds of details 
into some computer and take my picture with a camera. It all seemed 
like a preposterous amount of security and rigamarole even after the 
93 bombing. If they really cared about stopping attacks like that, 
they would do a better job guarding the garage and keeping track of 
the surveillance tapes after the fact.

On the floor of my meeting, though, I figured out what was probably 
going on. The floor held a number of offices including several branch 
offices of foreign banks. These weren't for passbook customers making 
deposits. They were the kind used to do big deals. My guess is that 
someone used the databases and photos of those coming and going for 
intelligence purposes.

Perhaps there was something more a foot too, but the concentration of 
financial deal making seems high enough to be worth the effort. The 
UN can be a 60+ minute drive by car.

-Peter