As more and more people descend on Times Square to enjoy the newly created pedestrian spaces and temporary cheap furniture, it was inevitable that the NYPD would dispatch one of their citizen-surveilling towers. This SkyWatch turret was posted up on Broadway and 47th Street to keep a intrusively observant eye over tourists and transient New Yorkers alike.
Photo by ANIMALnewyork
The menacing, elevated surveillance platform known as SkyWatch is back! The Orwellian contraption was deployed by the NYPD last night at S 4th St. and Roebling St., near an entrance to the Williamsburg Bridge. It was strategically placed in that location to not only watch the people, but the vehicles headed to Manhattan also. Unlike the other SkyWatch systems, this one is specially fitted with a license plate scanner that can provide real time information on drivers, according to an officer on the scene. Apparently the NYPD is moving ahead with their potentially civil rights abusing Operation Sentinel way ahead of schedule.
While many of the NYPD’s SkyWatch systems utilize self-contained generators for power, others, like this one in Times Square, draws its electricity from NYC streetlights making it particularly vulnerable to sabotage. One snip of the extension cord and this people peeping platform can be incapacitated rather easily. Click below for close-up photos of the highly susceptible surveillance mechanism and the unsuspecting watcher being watched.
As the ominous mobile surveillance system known as SkyWatch continues to invade the city’s neighborhoods, we decided to take a closer look at both the privacy invading people watcher and the company responsible for it. ICx Technologies (Nasdaq GS:ICXT) is a weapons manufacturer enabler and SkyWatch is just one item in its stable of military products* rebranded for law enforcement purposes. Most police departments—the NYPD included—utlizie the ‘Sentinel‘ version. According to the brochure, it’s perfect for any occasion, “from a prisoner working party to disaster response,” but also recommended for “crowd control, long range surveillance, and “VIP/Dignitary protection.” The unit weighs 6600 lbs., comes with a 5.5 KW gas generator that can for about 24 hours, sports an impressive set up time of “less than 10 minutes,” and costs about $100K a pop.
As promised by a beat cop last month, the people peeping SkyWatch tower has been removed from Graham Avenue. The 20 foot retractable perch originally designed for spotting illegal aliens has become an increasingly common fixture in the NYPD’s surveillance arsenal and was deployed in early August to supposedly help reduce a recent string of robberies. But now with the summer letting up, Williamsburg must be safe again.
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