The Mayor of New York City, Eric Adams has denied claims that a Public Service Announcement (PSA) warning city residents about how to prepare for a nuclear attack was alarmist.
Many city residents were confused and alarmed this week when the city’s Office of Emergency Management produced a video outlining three procedures for surviving a nuclear assault.
Adams later praised the forward-looking nature of the PSA, explaining that the war in Ukraine had made being proactive and focusing on preparedness “a great idea”.
That’s the opening line in the Public Service Announcement that stunned many who live in America’s most populous city. Confused initially that a nuclear attack might have happened and that they simply missed it.
However, Adams pushed back that the hypothetical nature of the announcement was alarmist.
“No, I don’t think it was alarmist. I’m a big believer in better safe than sorry. I’ll take my hat off to OEM. This was right after the attacks in the Ukraine and OEM took a very proactive step to say, ‘let’s be prepared.’ And it doesn’t mean just a nuclear attack, it’s any natural disaster. ‘Pack a bag, know where your medicines are located.’ These are just smart things to do. And, you know, many of us, think about COVID and other things that have been on the forefront. But we’re still one of the top terrorist threats. There are no imminent threats to the city that we know about. But we always have to be prepared, prepared as New Yorkers. And I think OEM did the right thing. We’re going to always be proactive, not panic, but we’re going to be prepared.”
The video takes viewers through three steps on how to respond to an attack of this nature.
Step 1: get inside fast. You, your friends, and your family get inside, and no, staying in the car is not an option. You need to get into a building and get away from the windows.
Step 2: stay inside, shut all doors and windows, have a basement, and head there. If you don’t have one, get as far into the middle of the building as possible. If you were outside after the attack, get clean immediately. Remove and bag all outer clothing to keep radioactive dust or ash away from your body.
Adams suggested the War in Ukraine as the main reason for the PSA after Russian threats to use nuclear weapons to defend its sovereignty.
“When I saw it, heard it I thought it was a great idea – my understanding was it was taking necessary steps after what happened in Ukraine to give preparedness and it’s not only nuclear, we have to be clear on that, it’s preparedness. We’re going to continuously put out – as we move into hurricane season – we’re going to put out a series of PSAs, a series of announcements about preparedness, we’re in this preparedness space because the worst thing that can happen is not to tell people to prepare.”
New Yorkers had mixed reactions.
One says, “I feel like it’s always important to inform the people of incoming danger. And I think if there is a set plan that they were going to implement, I think that would also be important for us to know.”
Another says, “I think this message is a little alarming. Quite frankly, there are so many other things going on to worry about. And if I have to find cover somewhere, I definitely will. But it’s really hot today, and I honestly feel like I just can’t be bothered today.”
While another says. “I’m originally from England, but I live in New York. And yeah, I mean, I think there is definitely a justified reason for it. Just as a precautionary measure more than anything else. Yeah, I’m scared. To tell you the truth. I’m scared. I think about it a lot.”
The Office of Emergency Management later put out a statement saying the likelihood of a nuclear weapons incident occurring in New York City is very low, but that they wanted to raise awareness around something most people have given much thought to – and on that, mission accomplished.
