The NYPD has not detected any specific terrorism threats against the city as Ramadan nears and Islamic extremists make advances in the Middle East, the city's top police official said Wednesday.
Police Commissioner William Bratton made the remarks when asked about reports that an insurgent leader in Iraq — once held there by the United States — told his captors, "I'll see you guys in New York," when released in 2009.
The purported taunt by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, "reflects the reality of our city as one of the top terrorist targets in the world," Bratton told reporters following a meeting with community leaders about security for Ramadan.
But the commissioner added: "At this particular time, we are not aware of any direct threat against New York."
The commanding officer of the NYPD Intelligence Division, Thomas Galati, said the department is closely monitoring developments in Iraq, where insurgents have captured a pair of major Iraq cities and are threatening its capital.
"We are constantly looking at it," Galati said. "We'll make adjustments as we go along."
The NYPD plans to assign extra uniformed and plainclothes officers to patrol outside mosques around the city for the Muslim holy month beginning June 28.
