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Fleet Week Can Be Scary!

Jen Chung

Published May 25, 2006

Modified Mar 7, 2008

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Jen Chung

Published May 25, 2006

Modified Mar 7, 2008

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A sampling of some of the emails we've been getting yesterday and today:

Okay, first a battery of F-15s goes over, followed by what looks like a cargo plane, flying LOW from Red Hook towards the Slope; then it banks right and heads south. Five minutes later, another small cargo craft coming from Queens in a southerly direction.

I assume the presence of military fighter planes means it's legit, but DAMN, those planes were flying too low for my taste. Any other leads on that shit?
......
I live in the UWS. Woke up to a huge plane sound going over our building headed North around 9:15am. The plane was tailed by 6 fighters.

Since then, there have been fighters and two planes that look like civilian planes but are flying very low and are green circling extremely low around here.

I'm sure you've heard other reports by now, but just in case. No news outlets seem to have this yet. What is going on?!?

.....
What do you know about all the military helicopters, F-16s, etc. that have been flying around Manhattan in the past 15 minutes? Especially looks like north up the Hudson, but these three choppers followed by about five single-rotor helicopters came low over midtown before crossing the East river at Willliamsburg and continuing south over Brooklyn.

Luckily, we're 99% sure we know why: It's Fleet Week. Hot sailors in uniform: Not scary. But F-16's swooping in formation: Scary as anything, especially as we remember how the skies were immediately after September 11.

You can find many Fleet Week activities here. And do you know where the Fleet Week parties are supposed to be? However, if these fighter jets and military helicopters are not part of the Fleet Week festivities (they don't seem to be listed...), then it can only be one other thing: New Jersey is finally attacking us.

Top photograph from janelle gunther on Flickr (she took it with her cameraphone!); bottom photograph from Mark Lennihan/AP

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Mark Lennihan

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News: NYC

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Jen Chung

Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

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