Walk around your neighborhood, and maybe you’ll see an extra police officer or a row of concrete barriers put up in front of your favorite public building. Maybe it’ll make you feel safer, or maybe not.

On October 31st, a man drove a rental truck down a bike path leading to eight dead and many injured. Later that day this was declared an act of terror, and the perpetrator, Sayfullo Saipov, claimed he did this for ISIS.

In the past few years these attacks have been happening more and more frequently. But this more recent attack that occurred on Halloween has set the city into a spiral of protection and whether or not you’ve noticed it yet, it’s very important to know for the future.

“I definitely think increased gun control and more regulations in the subways would help prevent future terrorist attacks, but there’s no way to completely prevent terrorist attacks,” says ninth grader Olive Raymond.

For the past week and a half, security around the city has increased by a lot. Not only in places like Time Square, the Brooklyn Bridge, various parks around the city, but in the little nooks and crannies in the places you wouldn’t think about.

There are multiple ways that the city has started to make changes in security. But two stick out as most noticeable, one especially around our school. This is an increase on police presence on the street.

“Since the terrorist incident on Halloween, I’ve noticed an increase in police presence around the city, and in the subways,” says Ken Krug, who has lived in New York his whole life.

Whether it makes you feel safer or more in danger is up to you, but the city does believe it has done the correct thing by increasing police protection. You might not have noticed this yet, but if you pay very close attention and try to remember the amount of police you saw on the street before. Are there more now?

“In general, like in the past one to two years, I’ve definitely noticed an increase in police at 59th Street, 42nd, like big stops, ” said sophomore Nellie Birnbaum.

On the other hand, this isn’t the only thing the city has done to do try to make residents safer. Concrete barriers have been strategically placed around the city, especially around heavily trafficked areas.

There are also other approaches to make New Yorkers feel safe. “I would increase the underground or hidden, or police presence {…} like counter terrorism units they have in the subway should be in more places,” says math teacher Mr. Whittaker.

If you have lived in New York your whole life or just a few days, you’ve probably picked up that it’s crowded, but that places like Time Square, Penn Station, Prospect Park, etc. are especially crowded each day. These, as well as places associated with usually targeted groups, are the kinds of places these barriers will be placed.

Maybe the city will even go farther with these new safety measures and go back to checking backpacks before entering the subway as part of a random search, sometimes even everyone’s. As Raymond states, “They [possible safety measures] should be more technologically updated, like maybe as you swipe in it’ll scan you like the airport scanners.”

This does make sense as we are updating technology everyday, so the city safety measures should update and adapt as technology does. The next question is whether or not these conveniences are worth it, but that’s the angle of another article.