By Julie Shapiro
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
TRIBECA — The NYPD has put a hold on its unpopular plan to shutter TriBeCa's century-old horse stable and replace it with a World Trade Center command post, police said.
Following an hour-long meeting with concerned residents Thursday morning, the NYPD decided not to begin moving the horses out of the N. Moore Street stable on Friday, as had been planned, said Paul Browne, the NYPD's chief spokesman.
"Due to objections voiced by Community Board One, the NYPD has agreed to first consider the board’s concerns before moving forward with the stable's conversion," Browne said in an e-mail to DNAinfo.
"Whether the original plan goes forward or an alternative is found, the fact remains that the new command must be built quickly before September 11th to assure the ongoing protection of the World Trade Center and the public at-large."
CB1 Chairwoman Julie Menin presented a list of alternative locations for the command post to the NYPD during Thursday's meeting. Menin did not disclose the locations but said they were closer to the World Trade Center site than the stable, which is 12 blocks away.
The five NYPD officials who attended the meeting included Michael Yanosik, commanding officer of the NYPD's Facilities Management Division.
Afterward, Menin called the meeting "productive" and said she was glad the NYPD was taking the community's concerns seriously. Local leaders have said they would be sad to lose a historic part of the neighborhood, and they worry that downtown would not be as safe without the NYPD's Mounted Unit stationed nearby. And Menin said the delay in moving to a permanent location will waste money.
Browne said the NYPD's plan was to convert the stables to house the 200-plus police officers who will ramp up their protections of the World Trade Center and the surrounding area in time for the 10th anniversary of the attacks, when the 9/11 memorial will open. The NYPD expects the conversion to cost $100,000, Browne said.
The NYPD planned to move most of the 11 horses to the police stable on W. 38th Street and use trailers to return them downtown as necessary to cover protests, Browne said. The rest of the horses would have gone to another location.
At Thursday's meeting, Menin said the NYPD told the group that the TriBeCa command center would actually be more of a locker room, where officers could change into their uniforms, and it would not house sensitive surveillance equipment.
Once more of the new World Trade Center buildings are complete in a few years, the NYPD plans to move the command center to a permanent location.
