Security, securities mix

By Michael J. Martinez
Associated Press

A New York police officer and a bomb-sniffing dog stand guard outside the New York Stock Exchange. The orange alert for the city's financial institutions didn't interfere with the normal work day yesterday. Associated Press

But although trading went on as usual, the specter of an attack shadowed the market. The market's jitters came despite the long-standing assurances from officials that the exchange is equipped to do business even in the event of an attack.

At the NYSE, additional security and police officers could be seen around the building, including officers with assault rifles and protective vests. However, inside, the employees continued on as normal.

"This is no different than any other day," said Bradley Simkins, a floor trader. "Security has always been tight. But aside from all the press, and all the people like Mayor Bloomberg and Gov. Pataki coming through here, nothing is really different."

Mayor Michael Bloomberg rang the opening bell as a show of solidarity with the exchange. And Gov. George Pataki toured the floor shaking hands with traders and thanking them for coming in to work in the wake of the terror threat.

"I would use the word 'defiant' to describe these guys," Pataki said. "It makes us proud to see all these people here with American flags on their jackets going about their work."

Although some traders noted the additional security, most felt that there was very little different coming into work yesterday.

Rumors of a wave of sick days or coordinated absences never materialized, and the number of people on the floor of the exchange appeared to be normal for this time of year.

"After 9/11, it doesn't surprise me at all that you would find a map of this place (the exchange) in some cave in Pakistan," said Kenneth Polcari, a trader with Polcari/Weicker. "You realize that's the world you live in, and you deal with it."

Theodore Weisburg, a trader with Seaport Securities Corp., said he received a call Sunday night from his 92-year-old mother who was concerned about him going to work yesterday.

"I told her what I have been telling everybody else. We have good security here," Weisburg said. "I got my son on the floor over here, my daughter is a trader on the desk right up the street. I feel safer here than I do in a lot of other places. You just have to go about your business and do the best you can."

Outside the exchange, the businesses surrounding the NYSE reported no change from the normal pace.

"Like everybody else, I was concerned, but we have been on this kind of alert ever since I can remember," said Marvin Rafeld, owner of 14 Wall Street Jewelers, located across the street from the main entrance to the exchange. "So far, the day is running smoothly."

The new terrorism warning puts the spotlight back on security at the NYSE, which was forced to halt trading for four days after the Sept. 11 attacks. In the time since, exchange officials have labored to assure its ability to operate even if another attack should happen, and to reassure investors and traders.

In 2001, for example, the NYSE's problem was the loss of a major telecommunications switching center at the World Trade Center site, cutting off communications between broker-dealers and the market.

The exchange and securities officials responded by creating a private fiberoptic network that links trading firms with data at multiple sites. If the system fails at any one point, the data traffic would be automatically rerouted, the exchange says.

The NYSE also has a backup trading floor it says could be activated within one day should something happen to its landmark Wall Street site.

In addition, the current trading floor is connected with four other operating sites in four different buildings, allowing officials to shift trading in case of an attack or other disaster.