Here's a story that takes the cake in the "Say What"? Department. It seems a man on a Jetski found himself stranded in Jamaica Bay this past Friday. The man, Daniel Casillo, was racing the watercraft with friends, but they never noticed they left him behind. So here he is, at 7:30 on a Friday night, the sun going down, and he's on a Jetski that's taking on water fast. He called his girlfriend and asked her to call a friend to tow him in.
No such luck. Finally, he decides to swim three miles to the only thing he can see. Turns out, it's a runway at JFK Airport. He comes ashore, climbs a fence, and crosses two runways to Terminal 3. He runs into an airline worker who then calls the authorities. Here's the catch. In going ashore, crossing the runways, and walking to the terminal, Daniel Casillo breached the airport's Perimeter Intrusion Detection System. The system, installed at a cost of $100 million dollars, is meant to safeguard against terrorists.
Not, apparently, against a guy who swam ashore because his Jetski broke.
To add insult to injury, Casillo was arrested and charged with criminal trespass. What did they want him to do, swim to the Verrazano Bridge and then climb out of the water? What's happening here is obvious. Daniel Casillo is being scapegoated because the Port Authority is embarrassed. They run the airport, they paid $100 million bucks for a system that's obviously flawed, and now they want this guy to pay for their mistake.
So here's a common sense solution. When the inevitable investigation into what went wrong is finished, let the members of the Port Authority Board experience what Daniel Casillo experienced. Put them in life jackets, drop them into the waters of Jamaica Bay, and let them swim for shore.
Let's see how far they get, and if the system is working better this time.
Oh, did I mention this happened in New York? Where else?
