Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
The Day After Military Planes Flew Too Low Over NYC
By
Jen Chung
Published Apr 28, 2009
Modified Apr 29, 2009
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Gothamist
View all 7
By
Jen Chung
Published Apr 28, 2009
Modified Apr 29, 2009
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
The verdict is out, and yesterday's lower Manhattan flyover by the "Boeing 747 sometimes known as Air Force One" and military jets was a bad idea. So bad that the White House Military Office's director Luis Caldera apologized for the mission. It was so bad that the city official who knew about the event but didn't tell the mayor was "reprimanded and a disciplinary letter has been placed in his file," according to Newsday.
Newsday explains that many city employees actually knew about the photo opportunity, which was apparently intended to amass updated photographs of Air Force One near landmarks: "The New York Police Department knew. The 911 dispatchers knew. And Mayor Mike Bloomberg's citywide event coordination and management director, Marc Mugnos, knew. In fact, the FAA and several other public agencies knew." Mayor Bloomberg only found out through messages to his Blackberry and he was pissed:"I'm annoyed—furious is a better word—that I wasn't told. If I had known about it, I would have called them right away and asked them not to." President Obama was reportedly furious as well, though that message came late last night.
One Jersey City brokerage employee told the Post, "We all ran to the window, and I thought, that's it, we're all dead. It brought back all the memories of 9/11. I said, 'I have to get out of here now!'" Another downtown Manhattan employee told the NY Times, "As soon as someone saw how close it got to the buildings, people literally ran out. Probably about 80 percent of my office left within two minutes of seeing how close it got to our building." The Daily News had these quotes from worried workers:
"I was crying and praying to God to forgive me my sins because I thought I was going to get killed," said Kathleen Filandro, who fled from 1New York Plaza when she spotted the planes.
"It's like someone coming up to you, sticking a gun to your head for 15 seconds, walking away and hearing 20 minutes later it was an undercover cop posing for a photo," said Wall Street worker Bill Privett.
Apparently the plane's flyover was done during a regular military exercise (to save money), but Keith Olbermann still named Caldera as his worst person in the world on Countdown last night.
Tagged
9/11
air force one
bad idea
flyover
lower manhattan
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Central Park birders, others remember 63-year-old woman killed in park
People who said they knew her described her as an artist and a familiar presence in the Ramble.
By
Charles Lane
Published Sep 28, 2026 at 7:04 p.m. ET
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
News
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
By
Arya Sundaram
A Brooklyn jail cell filled with smoke. The emergency button failed, a lawyer said.
By
Samantha Max
Crews launch tunnel machines to dig first new Hudson River rail tunnels since 1910
By
Michael Sol Warren
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .