I am a law enforcement officer who resides in Brooklyn, New York. I work the midnight tour on the Verazzano-Narrows Bridge (the longest span bridge in the USA) and happened to notice some street sign (below) that just appeared out of nowhere. Mind you this is Brooklyn, New York City and several people have asked me about these signs. They read as follows "COASTAL EVACUATION ROUTE, TO EVACUATION CENTER, PROSPECT PARK SOUTH" (Prospect Park happens to be the largest park in Brooklyn, upon which the Battle of Brooklyn was fought during The Revolutionary War).

I was born and bred in New York City living 25 years in the Bronx and after getting married relocated to Brooklyn 21 years ago. I have never seen any sign about evacuation any where in the five Boroughs of New York, then all of a sudden as if prompted by certain media events these signs appeared on the streets of Brooklyn, Staten Island and Manhattan.

I finally found the information as to who put up these signs and why. It was the Office of Emergency Management better known in NYC as the OEM. This is the mayor's agency that responds to disasters. They are being placed because we are moving into hurricane season, and I suspect that they are preparing for the possibility of a hurricane colliding in full force with New York City. Since an unheard of hurricane developed and landed on Brazil, they may be bracing for one this year. Usually hurricanes don't affect New York City as much as they do the coastal towns of Long Island and New Jersey, but I do remember two hurricanes that actually hit New York and all they did was bring heavy rains-- nothing more (by the time they arrived they were down graded to Tropical Storms).

If you go up on the OEM website and look up "evacuation " it explains that the area of evacuation is any areas within 10 city blocks of the coast. It even mentions tornados and other extreme weather cycles (almost like LA in "The Day After Tomorrow"). I have not seen anything about these signs in the newspapers. I can only guess that they don't want to fully alarm the public yet.

Alfonso S.
Brooklyn, NYC