Larry Levy, who served as general counsel to the Giuliani Administration in New York City, appeared on Breitbart News Daily Wednesday to discuss the Islamic terror threat that the city currently faces.
He also talked about his experiences working under former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, who led the city in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.
Host Stephen K. Bannon, who serves as Breitbart News Network’s executive chairman, asked Levy what level of vigilance is required to stop any potential threats to the city.
“One of the things that Rudy Giuliani innovated was bringing in an office of emergency management that coordinated the efforts of the police, the fire department, the environmental department, and everybody else,” Levy said. “They figured out what to do to be prepared. We monitored hospital admissions in emergency rooms to see if there were signs of poisoning … things of that nature.
“And of course the police department Intelligence Division in New York, they’re the best in the world. They’ve got officers stationed around the world,” he added of the renowned NYPD intelligence services. “They’re tied in with the FBI. They’re constantly watching and monitoring, in addition to the 35,000 police eyes on the street. You must always be vigilant, but being vigilant doesn’t mean being afraid,” Levy said.
He reminded the public that “we can’t stop our lives” and not to cave to fears.
Bannon asked Levy what he thought about the counter-terror measures being taken in Europe, citing the unpreparedness of officials prior to the jihadi attacks in Paris in mid November.
“Under [former NYPD police commissioner] Ray Kelly, they did surveillance in mosques where they thought there was potential terrorism activity going on.”
Levy was then asked whether it was a mistake for current mayor Bill De Blasio to pull the mosque surveillance and sophisticated human intelligence program.
“I think mistake and De Blasio go together very well,” Levy quipped. “New York City had a consent order going back to the 70s regarding political groups. What they did had to be designed and implemented under court supervision quite often. I’m confident [former police commissioner] Ray Kelly knew what they were doing and did it in a constitutional manner to keep it safe.”
Levy reminded the audience to honor the first responders who lost their lives on 9/11, and discussed charities he was involved in that assists the children of 9/11 victims, such as America’s Camp.
Members from his other charity, the National Law Enforcement and Firefighters Children’s Foundation, will be at the Thanksgiving Day parade to honor the fallen, he said.
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