One week after four people were shot and killed at Rudin Management’s 345 Park Avenue, police officers stood outside the office high-rise as employees trickled in and out of the building.
The chaotic scene that unfolded last week was replaced by one of quiet but clear increases in security Monday morning: A New York City police officer stood in the building’s expansive plaza, staring out at Park Avenue. Another officer stood within the lobby, by a pillar that offered a view of the revolving doors on Park Avenue and 51st Street. Building staffers were stationed near the building’s other entrances and within the lobby.
Last Monday, Shane Tamura, 27, walked into the Park Avenue tower with an assault rifle. Police say Tamura opened fire and killed three people in the lobby: Wesley LePatner, the chief executive officer of Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust; NYPD officer Didarul Islam; and Aland Etienne, a security guard. Officials believe Tamura was targeting the National Football Association, which has its headquarters in the building, but mistakenly took the elevator to the 33rd floor, where Rudin has its offices. There, he shot and killed Julia Hyman, an associate at Rudin, before turning the gun on himself.
In the immediate aftermath of the killings, police officers and other security personnel could be seen outside office buildings throughout Midtown. Beyond such immediate signs of extra attention to workplace safety, building managers and companies are also considering longer-term changes.
“Unfortunately, when something like this happens, it forces you to rethink everything,” said Dave Komendat, founder of Seattle-based Komendat Risk Management Services.
Building owners are reevaluating their security measures and staffing levels, and reviewing emergency communications systems they have in place. For example, RXR told TRD that the company is reviewing and updating its shelter-in-place, lockdown and evacuation protocols and conducting security and emergency assessments at all of its properties.
The shootings will likely prompt building owners and tenants to consider incorporating more security technologies, such as strategically placed duress buttons that allow front desk staff or individual tenants to immediately contact emergency personnel. Lobbies can incorporate natural cover and concealment, in the form of concrete benches, planters or the security desk, Komedat said.
Newer class A buildings often already have advanced elevator systems that limit floor access or allow the elevators to be remotely disabled. For buildings that already incorporate security technologies, it may involve ensuring tenants know the proper protocol and that building staff are aware of the full spectrum of available safety features.
“Sometimes people don’t realize we already have this kind of locking system, or we have the ability to program our elevators,” said Peggy Phillips, who leads Thornton Tomasetti’s protective design and security practice.
Some buildings incorporate rooms that can be locked or blockaded in an emergency. High-profile companies might opt for more extreme options for their C-suite, including bunker-like safe rooms reinforced with steel plates, Phillips said.
In an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” last week, Mayor Eric Adams noted that the Park Avenue tower has bathrooms that double as safe rooms, with bulletproof doors. He credited those rooms with playing “a major role in not having a greater loss of life.”
“There were many things that Rudin Management put in place to make their tenants safe,” Adams said.
A representative for the company declined to comment on any additional security measures the firm is taking.
John Orloff, who leads security risk management for Jensen Hughes and is a former inspector with the U.S. Secret Service, said dual authentication is key: Meaning, tenants are required to verify their identity at multiple points in order to gain access to different parts of a building. Maybe a tenant uses one form of identification at the turnstile, but another to access a specific floor from the elevator or to enter an office once on that floor.
Active shooter training is also critical, he said.
“Our kids are better trained in knowing what to do with an active assailant than most of their parents,” he said.
Employees should also refrain from entering public spaces with their office ID cards in visible or easily snatchable places, he added.
Camera technology that uses artificial intelligence to identify potential weapons can provide even just a few seconds of additional warning to police, especially in cases where witnesses do not immediately call 911.
“Sometimes people don’t trust what they see,” Komendat said.
Tamura double-parked his BMW on Park Avenue and walked across the large plaza outside the Park Avenue high-rise, carrying the rifle. The shades in the building’s lobby were down to block the sun, and Tamura’s approach went unnoticed, according to the New York Times.
Phillips said she works closely with architects when designing an office building’s lobby to establish clear sight lines for cameras and building personnel to monitor who is approaching the building.
Of course, making changes to an existing office building is different from working with the blank slate that ground-up construction offers. Phillips advises her clients to install flexible infrastructure that allows the magnitude of security features to be adjusted. That could take the form of a temporary ballistic shield for the front desk, or if renovating the lobby, installing equipment that allows for turnstiles to eventually be built to block off certain areas from the public.
“I think we’ve all been in office lobbies where they’ve added equipment after events, and it’s become like an obstacle course,” she said.
“I think the other thing that you learn from each of these events is that it is never quite like the last one,” she continued. “Being able to recognize that the threat condition does change, and that having that flexibility to either toggle up or toggle down your security is beneficial because you are not put into a position where you have security protocol that is more onerous than necessary or not sufficient.”
Orloff warned against drastic changes to workplace security. He said it is important to make employees feel that their safety is top priority, but also to roll out changes in a measured way.
“You have to make incremental cultural changes,” he said. “You can’t go from having an open door policy to locking the place down.”
Building owners, managers and tenants cannot possibly prepare for every kind of disaster. Last week’s tragedies show that even modern office buildings fortified with high-tech security solutions, security staff and training sessions can be vulnerable.
High-profile office tenants often have their own safety protocols and will have a separate front desk and elevator bank. Phillips expects security to be a greater emphasis on office security going forward, but also a heightened “awareness that there are threat scenarios that could affect a wider range of people.”
Komedat said property owners will likely face increased pressure from tenants to increase security.
“It always comes back to money,” Komedat said. “Those building management companies that want to attract and retain tenants will look at this very seriously.”
Others won’t want to make the investment.
“Clearly, there will be landlords and management companies that will look at this and think this probably won’t happen again,” he said. “Hope is not a strategy.”
“But these things cost money,” he added, “And some will spend it and others won’t.”
Read more
Office buildings ramp up security after killings at 345 Park
Blackstone’s Wesley LePatner, 43, killed in Midtown shooting
Rudin employee killed in shooting identified as Julia Hyman
