Breaking: Goldman Sachs And Other Wall Street Firms Spy on Protesters In Taxpayer-Funded Center

[stockholmer]

http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/10/18/wall-street-firms-spy-on-protestors-in-tax-funded-center/

A CounterPunch Exclusive

Wall Street’s audacity to corrupt knows no bounds and the cooptation of government by the 1 per cent knows no limits. How else to explain $150 million of taxpayer money going to equip a government facility in lower Manhattan where Wall Street firms, serially charged with corruption, get to sit alongside the New York Police Department and spy on law abiding citizens.

According to newly unearthed documents, the planning for this high tech facility on lower Broadway dates back six years. In correspondence from 2005 that rests quietly in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s archives, NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly promised Edward Forst, a Goldman Sachs’ Executive Vice President at the time, that the NYPD “is committed to the development and implementation of a comprehensive security plan for Lower Manhattan…One component of the plan will be a centralized coordination center that will provide space for full-time, on site representation from Goldman Sachs and other stakeholders.”

At the time, Goldman Sachs was in the process of extracting concessions from New York City just short of the Mayor’s first born in exchange for constructing its new headquarters building at 200 West Street, adjacent to the World Financial Center and in the general area of where the new World Trade Center complex would be built. According to the 2005 documents, Goldman’s deal included $1.65 billion in Liberty Bonds, up to $160 million in sales tax abatements for construction materials and tenant furnishings, and the deal-breaker requirement that a security plan that gave it a seat at the NYPD’s Coordination Center would be in place by no later than December 31, 2009.

The surveillance plan became known as the Lower Manhattan Security Initiative and the facility was eventually dubbed the Lower Manhattan Security Coordination Center. It operates round-the-clock. Under the imprimatur of the largest police department in the United States, 2,000 private spy cameras owned by Wall Street firms, together with approximately 1,000 more owned by the NYPD, are relaying live video feeds of people on the streets in lower Manhattan to the center. Once at the center, they can be integrated for analysis. At least 700 cameras scour the midtown area and also relay their live feeds into the downtown center where low-wage NYPD, MTA and Port Authority crime stoppers sit alongside high-wage personnel from Wall Street firms that are currently under at least 51 Federal and state corruption probes for mortgage securitization fraud and other matters. In addition to video analytics which can, for example, track a person based on the color of their hat or jacket, insiders say the NYPD either has or is working on face recognition software which could track individuals based on facial features. The center is also equipped with live feeds from license plate readers............................

snip

[gateley]

1. The more we learn about what they're doing, the more surreal it becomes.

We can't fix this country. We don't have enough band aids. We need to pull the rug out and start building anew.

[RKP5637]

4. All the piers are rotten, fixing it's like building over rotten wood and quicksand. n/t

[gateley]

46. Perfect. nt

[nineteen50]

31. No one would believe Russia failed because of corruption, greed and cronyism

 they all thought Reagan scared them into failing. Those that
control the money control the country and will not give up
either even if it means total collapse.

[gateley]

45. Great example - and you're 100% correct, IMO. nt

[Tutankhamun]

48. And total collapse is not far off.

Followed by the breakup of the union.

[virgogal]

2. What the hell does Goldman Sachs have to do with security?

[dana_b]

8. GS seems to run this country

so I hate to say that it's not surprising but it's how I'm feeling. I wish that I were surprised.

[No Elephants]

39. That's only fair. After all, they do own it.

[RKP5637]

3. Fascist Country - I can't imagine anyone questioning this anymore. n/t

[Whisp]

12. Jessie Ventura said that word - fascist - in an interview the other day

with Piers Morgan on CNN.
don't usually hear that word on the media.

[Enthusiast]

33. He was defining the present state of our nation.

And he was accurate.

[Whisp]

36. yes, when corporations own the government is what he said.

accurate.

[marmar]

5. Goldman Sachs needs to cease to exist.

nt

[blindpig]

6. That would take a revolution.

Just sayin'

[JackRiddler]

21. Actually, the default of a small country would cause the dominoes to topple...

and then we might be debating another TARP for the banksters... this time with five times as many protesters in the streets to stop it.

Direct banker rule - like we're seeing in southern Europe, and already saw in the US for a couple of months back in 2008 - is a very precarious thing. If it's a vampire squid, too much sunlight kills it. All it would take to end Goldman would be to have its books thrown open and the money run away.

[blindpig]

24. The way it's going I doubt there would be a debate.

They'd get their bailout. Only way they're going down short of my suggestion is if their brethern turned on them and sacrificed them as political expediency and that seems less and less likely.

[No Elephants]

41. LOL! Just sayin'

or just hinting?

[dmr]

23. I guess it's safe to say that the taxpayer bailout was approved by Goldman Sachs, & they

decided they weren't too big to fail.

:grr:

[No Elephants]

40. I wish you thought of that before we gave them all that money.

[aquart]

49. Yes.

[geardaddy]

7. knr

[TriMera]

9. K&R. n/t

[woo me with science]

10. K&R We cannot tolerate this.

They have power because we have given it to them.

It is time to take it back. Period.

[KansDem]

11. Time to review the 14 points of fascism

http://www.ellensplace.net/fascism.html

These become especially poignant in light of this thread:

9. Power of corporations protected
13. Rampant cronyism and corruption

[dixiegrrrrl]

16. 2. Disdain for the importance of human rights

The regimes themselves viewed human rights as of little value and a hindrance to realizing the objectives of the ruling elite. Through clever use of propaganda, the population was brought to accept these human rights abuses by marginalizing, even demonizing, those being targeted.

When abuse was egregious, the tactic was to use secrecy, denial, and disinformation.

[Remember Me]

19. This goes beyond that

(fascism on steroids) -- this is private corporations taking over government functions.

Of course, you could say that's been going on for a while now, with privatization and all.

And you'd be right.

That's my point.

[nineteen50]

32. Commonly called privatization.

[No Elephants]

42. Is Homeland Security mentioned?

[dana_b]

13. they have the $$

and will do whatever it takes to protect that money. This is why it is so hard to follow the rules. We are expected to be peaceful, law abiding citizens who protest between the hours of 8:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m., don't block any roadways, leave the parks alone, etc. No. We have to come up with new tactics and keep moving because the opposition has all of the bells, whistles, cops and politicians at their disposal.

[No Elephants]

43. 8 am to 10 pm? Get over yourself. It's a couple of two hour rallies in D.C. every blue moon.

You know, like the Tea Party, which protests the correct way.

Otherwise, you wear out your welcome.

[Autumn]

14. K/R

Enough. These bastards need to go down.

[No Elephants]

44. I'm game, but can you possibly be more specific. (Bear in mind, I'm non-violent

so far, anyway.)

[SixthSense]

15. amazing

they're actually listening instead of mocking now, very interesting

[grasswire]

17. it gets worse deeper into the article

According to Commissioner Kelly in public remarks, the privacy guidelines were written by Jessica Tisch, the Director of Counterterrorism Policy and Planning for the NYPD who has played a significant role in developing the Lower Manhattan Security Coordination Center. In 2006, Tisch was 25 years old and still working on her law degree and MBA at Harvard, according to a wedding announcement in the New York Times. Tisch is a friend to the Mayor’s daughter, Emma; her mother, Meryl, is a family friend to the Mayor.

Tisch is the granddaughter and one of the heirs to the now-deceased billionaire Laurence Tisch who built the Loews Corporation. Her father, James Tisch, is now the CEO of the Loews Corporation and was elected by Wall Street banks to sit on the Federal Reserve Bank of New York until 2013 representing the public’s interest. (Clearly, the 1 per cent think they know what’s best for the 99 per cent.)

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is the entity which doled out the bulk of the $16 trillion in bailout loans to the U.S. and foreign financial community. Members of Tisch’s family work for Wall Street firms or hedge funds which have prime broker relationships with them. A division of Loews Corporation has a banking relationship with Citigroup.

The Tisch family stands to directly benefit from the surveillance program. In June of this year, Continental Casualty Company, the primary unit of the giant CNA Financial which is owned by Loew’s Corp., signed a 19-year lease for 81,296 square feet at 125 Broad Street – an area under surveillance by the downtown surveillance center.

Loews Corporation also owns the Loew’s Regency Hotel on Park Avenue in midtown, an area which is also now under round-the-clock surveillance on the taxpayer’s dime.

[grasswire]

18. that is excellent reporting -- please share that article in a way...

...that give it more exposure.

[FarCenter]

29. Corporations are under federal "suggestions" to improve their security

The obvious solution is for financial industry companies to move out of lower Manhattan. In fact, most of them have, and all of them have moved substantial operations assets such as trading floors and data centers out of urban areas.

The Lower Manhattan Security Coordination Center appears to have been part of New York City's incentive package to keep GS and others in the lower Manhattan financial district, instead of heading for Westchester, Jersey, or Connecticut, etc. It would also have helped GS allay federal regulators' concerns over Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity considerations.

[patrice]

20. OKC is across the street from the Federal Reserve in KC; I'm sure we are videoed & mic'ed 24/7

http://www.occupykc.net/

[Tsiyu]

22. Talk about criminal

The NYPD is in bed with the worst criminals in American history. No wonder they have no issue beating people up. This is the biggest GANG of violent thugs and thieves ever known!

What do they call themselves?

Oh, yeah: The 1% GangBangers.


Edit to add: ANONYMOUS, where be ye? :evilgrin:

[fascisthunter]

25. conspiracies happen more often than not

[suffragette]

26. Looks like that is one of the fusion centers

Dan Siegel noted they may be involved in coordinated efforts against OWS.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x2338578

[dmr]

27. Paid Detail fees or buying police officers & screw the taxpayer

This just freakin' sickens me.

http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/10/10/financial-giants-put-new-york-city-cops-on-their-payroll/

- snip -
If you’re a Wall Street behemoth, there are endless opportunities to privatize profits and socialize losses beyond collecting trillions of dollars in bailouts from taxpayers. One of the ingenious methods that has remained below the public’s radar was started by the Rudy Giuliani administration in New York City in 1998. It’s called the Paid Detail Unit and it allows the New York Stock Exchange and Wall Street corporations, including those repeatedly charged with crimes, to order up a flank of New York’s finest with the ease of dialing the deli for a pastrami on rye.

The corporations pay an average of $37 an hour (no medical, no pension benefit, no overtime pay) for a member of the NYPD, with gun, handcuffs and the ability to arrest. The officer is indemnified by the taxpayer, not the corporation.

New York City gets a 10 percent administrative fee on top of the $37 per hour paid to the police. The City’s 2011 budget called for $1,184,000 in Paid Detail fees, meaning private corporations were paying wages of $11.8 million to police participating in the Paid Detail Unit. The program has more than doubled in revenue to the city since 2002.

The taxpayer has paid for the training of the rent-a-cop, his uniform and gun, and will pick up the legal tab for lawsuits stemming from the police personnel following illegal instructions from its corporate master. Lawsuits have already sprung up from the program.
- snip -

[tcaudilllg]

28. That's insane... they are trying to explicitly take over.

[moondust]

30. WWOW

What Would Orwell Write

K/R

[grasswire]

34. Orwell was an optimist.

So we now see.

[No Elephants]

38. He was amazing.

[grasswire]

35. thank you so much for posting this

The story ought to lead the news casts on every broadcast.

Sigh.

[No Elephants]

37. Motherland Security. Did you really think it was only to protect us from jihadists?

If so, I bet you think wars are fought for important principles.

Meanwhile, I am so shocked at GS. Only today I read on DU that GS's employees are predominantly liberal.

[OnyxCollie]

54. That would explain Obama's 87% approval by liberal Democrats. nt

[WillyT]

47. K & R !!!

:kick:

[aquart]

50. Isn't this what Las Vegas casinos do?

[Dover]

51. Feudal lords retreating to their towers? ...n/t

[saras]

52. At last - a worthy target for a drone missile

[pacalo]

53. This sounds like something from a John Grisham novel.

The bad guys will go to any expense or length to protect their secrets.

[fasttense]

55. As if the 99% are NOT stakeholders of their own country and government.

"One component of the plan will be a centralized coordination center that will provide space for full-time, on site representation from Goldman Sachs and other stakeholders.”

We are not invited to have on-site representation. We the 99% are excluded but the 1% are given open access.

Maybe we could buy some NYPD cops too? Oh wait, we already pay their salaries with our tax dollars, but that doesn't count in a banana republic.

[femrap]

56. The taxpayers

are charged for their own demise. All the taxpayer money that is given to wealthy Corporations is mind blowing.

I could :puke:

[Hotler]

57. kicking n/t