Terrorist attack in Boston?

[hminsky]

Imagine this; a sunny summer afternoon, all of sudden, the city is paralyzed; traffic on all major routes is a dead stop and gridlocked. Delivery trucks cannot get through. Amubulances stalled in traffic. Fire engines unable to move.

Hey, that happens every f*cking week here in Boston, when the Red Sox play at Fenway park.

They really need to move that venue someplace else, far away from downtown.

 

[Admin]

You don't want to have a heart attack close to Fenway right after a home game.

 

[C-pher]

You don't want to have a heart attack close to Fenway right after a home game.

No you don't. I hate it. That's why I take the Train if I can for every Sox game.

I drive to Quincy Adams, and take the red line. That way I only pay 3 bucks for parking...not 90???? like they are reporting on the news. And, I don't have to fight with traffic.

Only time I got screwed that was was Game 4 of the ALCS. It went into extra innings and we didn't get out before the last train. But I found some friends that were there to drive us back to the Station. But it was worth it to sweep the last four... Almost didn't go after the creaming the night before. Was close to selling the tickets. Glad that I didn't.

 

[Hamar]

Sept 11, 2001. By 11:30 am, you could not move in Boston. I work at Northeastern University. When the events of that day were taking place, my wife called for me to get out of the city and come home. It took me better than 3.5 hours to go my 29.5 miles. The majority of the time was spent between Huntington Ave and the Milton line. It was a major mess.

 

[Rockrivr1]

You cannot beat taking the Green Line from Riverside for any Sox game. Right off 128 and a direct shot to the park. I'll never drive in again. Did you hear that some places were charging up to $90 to park near the field. Geez, talk about making a profit.

 

[C-pher]

Yea, they tried that last year as well. Then the town got into it and made them lower their prices.

Sometimes taking the Green Line during a Sox game is a Survival task in itself. People are viscous when trying to get on those little trollys at Park Street.

 

[Coyote33]

You cannot beat taking the Green Line from Riverside for any Sox game. Right off 128 and a direct shot to the park. I'll never drive in again. Did you hear that some places were charging up to $90 to park near the field. Geez, talk about making a profit.

Yeah, but a bullet train that is NOT. You can see the rats and light bulb filaments as you creep by. I think it takes almost 45 minutes to an hour to get downtown from there. I could drive the entire way quicker. Plus, parking fills up there and I've ended up driving the rest of the way in ANYHOW with the wasted time by sidetracking attempting to go there!

 

[Hamar]

I'm not sure if they are doing it this year or not but, for the last few years there has been a shuttle bus that runs from the Ruggles station to Fenway Park on game days. Just take the orange line to ruggles.....

 

[Len-2A Training]

Sept 11, 2001. By 11:30 am, you could not move in Boston. I work at Northeastern University. When the events of that day were taking place, my wife called for me to get out of the city and come home. It took me better than 3.5 hours to go my 29.5 miles. The majority of the time was spent between Huntington Ave and the Milton line. It was a major mess.

I was working at Simmons College when that happened. After watching everything happen live in the Media Center and discussing it for hours, when I left there I walked to Ruggles to take the commuter rail home. I looked to the Prudential Center and thought (and still do) that it would be the ONLY newsworthy target in Boston!

At Ruggles, I met up with a friend (Director of Budgets at NU, IIRC) and he told me of NU's "concern" as a target. I laughed at him and told him that nobody outside MA even knows what NU is . . . outside the area the standard response is "you mean NorthWESTern in Chicago, right?" . . . nah, NU is NOT NEWSWORTHY as a target. [I have my BSEE from NU-Boston!]

The only way to get in/out of Boston is on the T or commuter rail. Some of us have "secret parking areas" in Quincy if we want to take the Red Line. It's rare that I'll park in the garages (NEVER again in Braintree's garage).

 

[Hamar]

Secret lots in Quincy? You wouldnt mind a friendly PM to me now would you.

As for N.U. Wifey wasnt worried about the school being a target per se, just something occuring in Boston at all. To appease her, I went home.

 

[KMaurer]

I worked on Beacon Hill for about nine years. During that period I drove in to the city a grand total of five times, about four more than was really necessary.

Ken

 

[Rockrivr1]

Wow, I've never had a problem getting parking there. But I usually show up a few hours prior to the game as your right in that the trip takes a little while. The fun part is after the game trying to squeeze into the train. I watched some guy "pretend" to get sick and even as packed as we were, they made a big space for him. I say fake, because I saw him wink at his girlfriend when people were shuffling "quickly" away from him. Actually not a bad plan.

 

[hminsky]

A little known fact (to me anyway, until recently) is that there is a commuter rail stop called "Yawkey" that is actually Fenway Park, on the Framingham-Worcester line. It only stops there a couple times a day, but during baseball games I believe they add extra stops to let people on/off.

In theory you could catch a train from out west and get off right at Fenway.

 

[Coyote33]

Also note:
MBTA Prepared To Carry Fans To The Boston Marathon!

 

[wilkinshire]

But think of the entire MBTA as one very large, very, very, very soft and relatively high value target to a potential terrorist....MBTA police do not have the manpower to search everyone entering the various stations, and they can't shut the T down....

Imagine taking public transportation in Tel Aviv or Basra. ;-)

 

[C-pher]

A little known fact (to me anyway, until recently) is that there is a commuter rail stop called "Yawkey" that is actually Fenway Park, on the Framingham-Worcester line. It only stops there a couple times a day, but during baseball games I believe they add extra stops to let people on/off.

In theory you could catch a train from out west and get off right at Fenway.

There's one for Foxboro for the stadium.

The only reason that we go to to Quincy Adams is because it's on the Red Line.

Most commuter trains last train is about 22:30-23:00 and the red line will go until about midnight-01:30.

 

[Len-2A Training]

But think of the entire MBTA as one very large, very, very, very soft and relatively high value target to a potential terrorist....MBTA police do not have the manpower to search everyone entering the various stations, and they can't shut the T down....

Imagine taking public transportation in Tel Aviv or Basra. ;-)

Security on the T is non-existent. When you see any MBTA Police, they will be in a cluster of 3-5 talking to one another and paying no attention to anyone or anything going on. They do not patrol the stations when they are there.

I don't imagine taking public transportation in Tel Aviv, I've actually done it numerous times. Big differences:

- Drivers are usually armed.

- Military travel the public transportation all the time with their M16s.

- Almost all adult Israelis are in the military and trained to look for something/someone out of place. [In the US everyone is trained to ignore what's going on, leave it for the police.]

- Israeli military, police or armed civilians won't hesitate to act to protect the majority if something looks askew. [Here we're trained to call 911 and die! If we take action, we will be persecuted and sued into poverty.]

 

[dwarven1]

I looked to the Prudential Center and thought (and still do) that it would be the ONLY newsworthy target in Boston!

Don't know about Boston, but I do know that there were F15's flying cover over Draper Labs in Cambridge on 9/11...

 

[Len-2A Training]

Ross, although there are PLENTY of strategic targets here, most folks have no idea what most of these companies do for a living! Those of us who worked in these companies know what they are all about.

Our sworn enemies look for the biggest "media splash" and most of our strategic targets wouldn't give them what they look for . . . even though the damage would be a lot more serious than just a few thousand lives!

 

[hminsky]

When I was at MIT, my lab was across the parking lot from Draper labs. Every so often you would see someone in the evening setting up a theotolite (astronomical instrument for getting angles to stars), on a concrete post in the middle of the parking lot. They would use that as a reference for the various intercontinental greeting cards they were building the navigation systems for.

When you think "ground zero", it is Kendall Square.

 

[crak]

Hey hey, enough with the Draper.

1. You're making me blush.
2. You're giving people ideas.
2a. I don't want to start packing a gas mask in my laptop bag.

Nothing goes on at Draper. Go bother Lincoln labs.

 

[hminsky]

Hey hey, enough with the Draper.

1. You're making me blush.
2. You're giving people ideas.
2a. I don't want to start packing a gas mask in my laptop bag.

Nothing goes on at Draper. Go bother Lincoln labs.

Well, that was all cold war stuff anyway. Today's terrorists would blow up a basketball game or something, to annoy the most possible Americans. I'm not sure if baseball is actually still popular enough to make a likely target.

 

[JuergenG]

IMHO Seabrook Station would be a "newsworthy target" for them a$$holes.

 

[Coyote33]

... a basketball game or something, to annoy the most possible Americans. I'm not sure if baseball is actually still popular enough...

I think you got those two flipped around.

 

[Garys]

When you think "ground zero", it is Kendall Square.

Well, anywhere in Cambridge would be fine. <G>

Gary

 

[Garys]

I think you got those two flipped around.

+1

Look at how much money the Red Sox make vs how much the Celtics make. Despite the number of championships the Celtics have won over the years, Boston was, is, and always will be a baseball town. The Patriots won three Super Bowls in 4 years and despite that, the parade for the Red Sox was bigger.

To drift back on topic. The single most disruptive day for traffic in Boston is Marathon Day. Fortunately, it falls on a state holiday so it's not as bad as it could be. It's a major pain in the a** to get around anywhere within blocks of the finish line. Boylston street is not only upassable, it's uncrossable. Emergency vehicles and crews have to be staged on both sides of the road to provide coverage.

July 4th is a bad traffic day, but not nearly as bad as Patriot's Day.

Red Sox games by comparison are easy. When the game breaks the area around Fenway is packed, but emergency vehicles can get through. In fact they do get through on a regular basis. It's no worse than trying to drive though downtown on a regular day.

A terrorist attack would be a whole different story, though. I'd like to think that people would react much as the people in lower Manhattan did, but I have my doubts.

As to targets. The Pru, the Hancock, and International Place come to mind to make a media splash.

Gary

 

[hminsky]

I can imagine the Arab terrorists, through a cultural misunderstanding, blowing up a soccer game, and nobody even covering it in the news

 

[JonJ]

I can imagine the Arab terrorists, through a cultural misunderstanding, blowing up a soccer game, and nobody even covering it in the news

 

[Garys]

I can imagine the Arab terrorists, through a cultural misunderstanding, blowing up a soccer game, and nobody even covering it in the news

Or a Bruins game for that matter.

Gary

 

[dwarven1]

As to targets. The Pru, the Hancock, and International Place come to mind to make a media splash.

I have to wonder about that. I mean, people have heard of the Pru and the Hancock, but who's ever heard of IP outside of MA?

Strangely enough, I used to say to my coworkers that the only way we'd ever get our wiring in International Place straightened out was to have a plane fly into it so we could start over when they rebuilt it.