Officials at Odds Over WTC Radio Plans

Dispute comes as another aerial video of the attack surfaces.

The NYPD refused to sign off on the Port Authority's plans for the emergency radio system at the World Trade Center site, according to a published report.

The New York Post reports that the NYPD did not back the system approved by the PA last month, and that some top PA officials also raised alarms that the agency was repeating past mistakes.

The dispute over emergency communications comes as another video from an NYPD helicopter surfaced Monday. The video -- 17 minutes total -- shows the upper floors of the towers and lower Manhattan as shot from a helicopter, which were the only photographers allowed in the airspace above the towers that day.

A trove of aerial footage of the attack was released a year ago.

Communications failures on Sept. 11, 2001 were blamed for contributing to the deaths of so many first responders. It is believed that many could not hear evacuation orders and other crucial communications on the day of the attack.

The Post said the PA approved $130 million for the construction of a communications system at the 16-acre site, where a memorial, museum and new office towers are going up.

The paper said the agency is not following recommendations to install a completely new system, but rather is expanding its aging radio infrastructure, one that is being discontinued by the manufacturer and is also not compatible with the NYPD and FDNY systems.

PA spokesman Steve Coleman told the Post that the new system is "flexible" and can be adapted down the road to work with the police and fire departments.

NYPD spokesman Paul Browne told the post that the PA and the NYPD "are working closely together to build a fully compatible, inter-operable communications system."

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