By Suzanne Ma
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — On Thursday morning, NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly said he would consider a proposal to move the upcoming terror trials from a Lower Manhattan courthouse to Governors Island.
That night, he changed his mind.
NY1 caught Kelly at a press conference saying he was open to the idea of moving the trials of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other accused 9/11 conspirators to the island. Later, in an interview with the network, he said a move was unlikely.
"We talked to some federal officials about this, and they seem to think it’s impractical," Kelly said in the interview.
"The federal officials feel that you have to actually build a prison facility there, which would take probably a couple of years. What they don’t want to do is be in a position of transporting these prisoners."
Kelly's statements came a day after Community Board 1 voted unanimously to oppose holding the trials in the federal courthouse on Pearl Street and sent a strongly-worded letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, recommending the Governors Island plan.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg has also weighed in on the issue, calling the proposal "one of the dumber ideas" he's ever heard, according to the Downtown Express, at a meeting with newspaper publishers at Gracie Mansion on Thursday morning.
Chinatown residents fired back on Friday, saying they were stunned with Bloomberg's comment.
"We wonder how [Mayor Bloomberg] or President Obama would feel if the trials were located in front of their own homes?" wrote Chinatown resident Jeanie Chin, in a statement released to the press.
"The dumbest idea is to house some of the most dangerous terrorists of the decade in the midst of Lower Manhattan’s dense residential area and in Chinatown, one of Manhattan's major tourist attractions."
Local politicians have also expressed outrage.
Congressman Jerrold Nadler, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, State Senator Daniel Squadron and City Councilmember Margaret Chin released a joint statement released on Friday:
“We were extremely disappointed by Mayor Bloomberg’s callous dismissal yesterday," the statement read.
"We must work with the residents and businesses of Lower Manhattan to incorporate their concerns into a plan that will not be an extreme burden on a community that is still suffering the physical, emotional and economic consequences of the September 11th attacks."
The trials, which are expected to last several years, will lock down parts of Chinatown and lower Manhattan and cut the neighborhood into security zones bordered by metal barriers and armed guards.
The tightest security zone would heavily restrict pedestrian and vehicle traffic along Worth Street in the north, Pearl Street in the east, Madison Street in the south, and west along Centre Street.
Chinatown residents living steps away from the Pearl Street courthouse say the trials will destroy local businesses and wreak havoc on their day-to-day lives.
It's estimated the security measures will cost more than $200 million each year.
