Shellshocked Wall Street executives feel powerless and uncertain about how to keep employees secure after the Park Avenue murder of four by a deranged gunman on Monday.
One CEO of a publicly traded company told me he’d like to see companies scrap all existing security measures — like key cards and unarmed guards — and simply “put someone with a f***ing gun in every lobby.
Commercial real estate managers, for their part, have made sure buildings are conducting normal active shooter drills in addition to fire drills and that security forces are fully staffed so there aren’t any other vulnerabilities.
But some executives concede that is about all they can do. Referring to mentally disturbed Shane Tamura’s rampage at the office building housing KPMG, the NFL and Blackstone at 345 Park Avenue, one real estate executive put it bluntly, “Someone with a gun like that, it’s really hard to stop them if they’re intent on doing harm.”
Tamura killed an off-duty cop working security and three other people before turning the gun on himself.
Safety expert Mac Segal at AHNA Group, which advises businesses and individuals on best security practices, said some of his clients are exploring panic buttons to be installed under a desk in a lobby.
Others are exploring enhanced safety rooms with fortified walls and deadbolts on each floor where employees could hide in the event of a shooting. Some executives hid in a panic room during the Monday shooting, according to reports.
Segal predicts a “knee-jerk reaction” from companies and executives devastated by the murders — placing more unarmed guards and possibly introducing metal detectors — but that it will likely dissipate after a few months.
Over the last year, since the assassination of UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson in broad daylight, also in Manhattan, many firms have done just that.
However, “there is only a reasonable amount that can be done,” Segal says. “And there is a direct conflict between freedom and security.”
The problem, of course, is eventually people get tired of onerous processes — imagine having to through metal detectors and scanners anytime you tried to get to the office.
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Real estate brokers like Kelly Killoren Bensimon say the security at buildings like 345 Park Avenue is already “fortress-like.”
“In these kinds of buildings, Rudin buildings — Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley — all these buildings, they have such incredible security. You have to have your name, you have to have ID, you have to go through a QR code. These are lockdown buildings. They’re fortresses in security,” Bensimon said.
Yet still, one man with an AR-15 assault weapon made it to the 33rd floor during his sick rampage.
“I work with a lot of people in buildings on that block, on Park Avenue. It’s something that was super shocking,” Bensimon said.
So just how much more security employees and executives can stomach is unclear.
“Clients, vendors, employees are in and out all day long — are you going to X-Ray every pizza?” Segal adds.
One option a handful of alpha-male types on Wall Street are considering? Concealed carry permits. Several hedge fund managers said it’s something they’re working towards getting, in an effort to protect themselves.
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