Spectrum Engineering Division Office of Engineering and Technology, FCC, Washington, D.C. 20554. and Office of Radiation Programs Environmental Protection Agency P.O. Box 98517, Las Vegas, Nevada 89193-8517) and Radiofrequency Radiation Unit Environmental Protection Agency 401 M. St., S.W., Washington, D.C. 20460 To Whom It May Concern: We write to you because we are very concerned about a point-to-point microwave relay system that is being used in Manhattan (New York City). This system, which appears to be used by the National Broadcasting System (located in New Jersey) as a way of sending and relaying live video images captured by a remote-controlled camera, operates in the heart of Times Square. (The precise locations of the circular transmitter and box-style camera are atop a pole that stands at the north or 44th Street end of the traffic island that lies between Broadway and Seventh Avenues. The circular receiving unit is located several floors up, on the tall building between 42d and 43th Streets, next to NBC's multi-colored "flamingo" logo.) And yet, despite the fact that millions of people work in the surrounding buildings and/or pass directly beneath this unit, 1. the transmitter is constantly operating or "energized" (see attached photographs in which the "red light" is clearly on); 2. nothing on the attenna or on the pole from which it hangs informs the general public that a microwave transmitter is in operation, indeed, right above their heads (there is no attenna registration number); 3. public access to the attenna is completely unrestricted; there is no fencing or meshing to keep people away from it; anyone who wants to can climb the pole and touch the transmitter; and 4. should maintenance personnel need to work on either the transmitter or the camera, they might be exposed to hazardous power densities without realizing it. These facts make us worried about other, related matters. For example, did the FCC approve and license this facility? Was an Environmental Impact Statement ever prepared by NBC? Should one be prepared now? Is the unit broadcasting on the proper frequency? Are the current power levels consistent with FCC rules and regulations, which were updated in the years since the Times Square unit was installed? Thank you for taking this matter seriously, Bill Brown POB 1115 NYC 10009-9998 USA 212 561-0106
Contact the Surveillance Camera Players
By e-mail SCP
By snail mail: SCP c/o NOT BORED! POB 1115, Stuyvesant Station, New York City 10009-9998
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