Brooklyn Bridge was Targeted by Al Qaeda

Brooklyn Bridge

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The Brooklyn Bridge was targeted by the international Al Qaeda terrorist organization, according to a WikiLeaks document released Wednesday to The New York Times.

The document, a 2006 file from the Guantanamo Bay prison, described a plan by the terrorist organization revealed in 2003.

The plot to cut the major cables of the bridge came to light after the arrest of Ayman Faris, a Kashmiri national who became a naturalized U.S. citizen.

But the Brooklyn Bridge is not the only major New York location that was targeted by al Qaeda. Senior terrorist Abu Zubeida told Guantanamo interrogators that other “U.S. symbols” considered potential targets by the group included the Statue of Liberty, the United Nations building and “major hanging bridges.”

According to the Times, the plan was abandoned when it became clear that Faris would be unable to reach the cables. NY Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said that Faris warned Al Qaeda, “The weather is too hot,” after he realized the heavy police security would make it impossible to attack the bridge.

Following the terror group's attack on 9/11, the NY police department deployed police cars on all ramps of all bridges and at entrances to the tunnels, as well as a boat in the East and Hudson Rivers on the east and west sides of the city.  

One of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States, the 486.3 meter-long Brooklyn Bridge connects the island of Manhattan with the borough of Brooklyn, over the East River.