After Mumbai Attacks, NYPD Tells Hotels to Be Careful

The NYPD held a briefing for hotels today, warning them that they are "vulnerable to a Mumbai-style attack," according to the AP. Last week's attacks in Mumbai included terrorists taking over two luxury hotels, and the NYPD "advised the security executives to train their staffs to be more suspicious of people loitering in lobbies and on guest floors, and of guests who book rooms for unusually long stays." An intelligence company reports that the Mumbai terrorists "closely followed" a foiled 1993 plan that targeted NYC hotels and used watercraft to gain access to sites. The chairman of the Hotel Association of New York's security committee (and executive director of risk management at the NY Palace Hotel) said, "There are of course certain inconveniences you can impose without scaring the life out of tourists and your guests. There has to be a happy medium and a balance to it."