New York City is the premier financial market of the world. If the random bag searches caused a large percentage of commuters to arrive at work late it wouldn't be worthwhile. I carry a knapsack to and from work every day, and have never been stopped for a bag check in the subway system yet - and it's been a while since they began this program. I don't even think that I know anybody that has been stopped. The police just set up a table in the station with a sign announcing that bags are subject to random checks.

The cops on this detail are just standing around most of the time, and once in a while ask somebody to open their bag. Some people go over and do it voluntarily, to help them. I don't know if they have a "quota", but if they do - it's apparently not a lot. As I said, the City does not want to hurt business or alienate everybody.

NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg is a former businessman who had enough money to do whatever he wanted, so he ran for mayor. Ray Kelly is in charge of the PD, and and there is nobody above Bloomberg that can force, blackmail, or bribe him to take draconian measures against the people of the city that he loves.

The crime in NYC, from the late 1960's through the late 80's, was very bad. Things began improving in the early 90's, and right now we're the safest of the largest cities in the U.S. We are willing to sacrifice a little personal privacy for security. We've been hit before, and we arenā??t going to take it anymore. If you're going to tell me that the jihad nuts and large-scale bombers that have been active in Europe, the Middle East, and many other places are not interested in New York because there hasn't been another terrorist attack since 9/11, I would say it's only because our policies have been, for the MOST part, working. If they were not I, and many others, would move away quickly - and so would many businesses. That is exactly the opposite of what Pataki, Bloomberg, Clinton, Schumer, etc. want.