The new $743 million JetBlue terminal at JFK Airport is a police radio "dead zone," with Port Authority officers unable to communicate with one another using their radios, according to the New York Post.
Instead, Port Authority officers are given pre-programmed cell phones at the beginning of their shifts to call JFK police command if an emergency comes up, the newspaper said.
The problem was discovered by Port Authority six months before the JetBlue terminal opened to the public in October 2008, according to the Post.
Since then, several cops have been injured in separate incidents where reinforcements were late to arrive, the paper said, citing multiple unnamed sources.
"It is absolutely mind-boggling that a terminal built after 9/11 would have a flaw like this that would prevent communication between police officers," one Port Authority Police Department supervisor told the Post.
A spokesman for the Port Authority acknowledged the problem, but told the Post that an "interim system implemented in April 2010 provides partial coverage" for cops using their police radios, though several police officials disputed that claim.
A permanent fix will cost an estimated $3 million, a source told the Post, and is many months from completion.
