By Chris Munzing
Long Beach Police Department spokesman Lt. Bruce Meyer said the department was beefing up patrols city-wide, and especially at the train station.
Meyer added that the department was coordinating their efforts with the MTA, who are also providing additional MTA police officers at the station.
Standing on the platform, commuters from Long Beach seemed resigned to both heightened security and more sleepless nights.
Chris Schilling, a Long Beach resident and teacher in New York City, said that while he was dread to use mass transit after Thursday's events, it was no more so than after Sept. 11, 2001.
"It happens every day in some countries, so I think that we're pretty lucky in the United States," he said while standing on the Long Beach train station, adding that he feels safe while riding the rails. "Flying is another story though, that's still tough."
Schilling added that the best thing people can do is continue to go about their daily routine. "If you worry about it everyday, you'll never leave your house," he said. "It's sad what happened in London, but you can't stop living your life because of it."
"Ever since 9/11, it's definitely been tough," said Chris Dattolo, a resident of Jersey City who was waiting in front of the station to be picked up by a friend.
"Getting on a subway, I hate it," he said. "I mean, it's like you expect it to happen." Dattolo works in the financial district, and his office was two buildings over from the World Trade Center.
Following the four terrorist bombings on London subway trains and a bus that killed more than 50 and injured 700, Nassau County police are intensifying patrols at all Long Island Rail Road stations, where uniformed officers will "park, walk and talk."
"This means that the officer will park his or her car, walk through train platforms, ticket offices, waiting rooms and inspect for suspicious persons, packages and vehicles," said Tim Driscoll, deputy county executive of public safety.
As Nassau County residents make their way to work in New York City, they can rest assured that similar safety measures are being taken there, said Jarrod Bernstein, a spokesman for the New York City Office of Emergency Management.
More officers have been assigned to subway and bridge duty, Bernstein said. What's more, city agencies are prepared to handle bombings similar to the ones that rocked London last Thursday, he said. "We did a multi-agency drill in 2004 that consisted of a terrorist attack in the subway," Bernstein said. It was organized after the bombing of the train in Madrid that took hundreds of lives.
In addition, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has brought in additional police officers to step up security in the entire New York City system, according to MTA spokesperson Mercedes Padilla.
Nick Buglione, Esther McKenna and Joe Kellard contributed to this story. Comments about it? DMiller@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 213.
