4 ms·
The NSA has a spy hub in NYC? You don't say. They've only been there since before the NSA was even a thing. You know what they did out of New York, prior to bec
by strictnein 10y ago
The NSA has a spy hub in NYC? You don't say. They've only been there since before the NSA was even a thing. You know what they did out of New York, prior to becoming the NSA? Spied on international telegrams. Except in that case the three major telegram companies would bring them copies of all the international telegrams every single day.
But, cool, we have their new address now. At a building that was obviously a telecom hub to anyone technically minded.
- azernik 10y agoI'm more interested in the architecture, honestly - we already knew the NSA had telco cooperation and (I think I'd already heard?) access to their facilities. But that one of those facilities is an honest-to-god skyscraper that someone tried to make nuclear-bomb-proof? That's fantastic.
- strictnein 10y agoThe Intercept article that this NYT article is based on is much more interesting. Covers a lot more of the architecture stuff. https://theintercept.com/2016/11/16/the-nsas-spy-hub-in-new-york-hidden-in-plain-sight/ https://theintercept.com/2016/11/16/the-nsas-spy-hub-in-new-... This sketch is particularly stunning: https://prod01-cdn07.cdn.firstlook.org/wp-uploads/sites/1/2016/11/026V0261-edit.jpg https://prod01-cdn07.cdn.firstlook.org/wp-uploads/sites/1/20...
- azernik 10y agoSorry, should have mentioned that I skipped the NYT and went straight to that :-)
- walshemj 10y agoIn the UK all the GPO and later BT had contingency plans for nuclear war https://londonparticulars.wordpress.com/tag/british-telecom/ https://londonparticulars.wordpress.com/tag/british-telecom/ They are also name checked in the laundry files.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- nostromo 10y agoThey're actually not uncommon. Seattle: http://i.imgur.com/O9FGxHM.png http://i.imgur.com/O9FGxHM.png SF: http://i.imgur.com/R9qtuY2.jpg http://i.imgur.com/R9qtuY2.jpg Just look for a big building with no windows and lots of security.
- mrbill 10y agoFor a few years, any time I got a new camera I'd use the ATT/SBC central office here in Houston as my test subject for comparison shots: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mrbill/418219038/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/mrbill/418219038/
- nitrogen 10y agoI love how the old logo is still visible as a slightly cleaner section of the concrete.
- drvdevd 10y agoYes it is actually the architectural history of all this that makes it interesting to me as well. It's the hidden landscape within/around/between/under our cities that's quite fascinating. It's also a prescient observation that modern institutions of surveillence must necessarily evolve alongside our basic infrastructure.
- j1vms 10y ago> ...skyscraper that someone tried to make nuclear-bomb-proof (...) That's fantastic. Given the state-of-art nuclear weapons in the early 70s, it's fantastic in the unbelievable sense as the thing would stick out like a sore thumb from the sky for just about any missile. And if zero point had been chosen somewhere above the structure, there very likely would really be no building left. Whatever was so important within would have to be to be dug down deep far, far below -- makes the whole thing pointless unless as a diversion from something else. And anyway if it was the real deal, then as of at least a couple years now, probably no longer.
- azernik 10y agoWell, in midtown Manhattan it wouldn't stand out that will. I'm equally skeptical of its durability against a close hit. Although in any case, I think Cold War ICBM accuracy (CEPs on the order of half a mile to several miles, depending on period) would be more of an issue than target identification.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- dingaling 10y agoI'm sceptical of its supposed 'nuclear proofing'. There are no apparent channels for blast pass-through or dissipation so the full force would act against the entire exposed face of the building. In that case it would act as a giant lever on its foundations. It looks more like a hugely scaled-up traditional 'bomb-proof' bunker. As an example of a structure that did survive a much lesser nuclear blast, the Fukoku building in Hiroshima was 270 metres from groud-zero and remained structurally intact as the blast blew through all the aligned windows: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8adFNycaanI/TQlhoXfPW0I/AAAAAAAABto/fy9BDqLj7fQ/s400/Dirkwood%2Bx101%2BFukoku%2Bbuilding%2BHiroshima.JPG http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8adFNycaanI/TQlhoXfPW0I/AAAAAAAABt...