NEW YORK CITY — With the New York City Marathon set to return Sunday after being sidelined last year by Superstorm Sandy, the specter of the Boston Marathon looms large. The New York City Police Department plans to beef up security along the 26.2-mile course, which winds through the city’s five boroughs.

But the finish line has become perhaps the biggest worry after two homemade bombs detonated near the finish line in Boston, killing three people and injuring more than 260. “It will be tight,” police commissioner Raymond Kelly said recently when asked about the race’s finish area in Central Park.

“It always is tight, but obviously we’re going to pay particular attention to that this year.” About 45,000 runners participate in the marathon. The NYPD bought 100 mobile security cameras in the wake of the Boston attack. Those will be positioned to keep an eye out for anything suspicious along the route in places where there are gaps in the sightline of permanent cameras, police said.

Hundreds of police officers will be posted along the route; police helicopters will patrol the skies and police boats will keep watch from New York Harbor and the East River. As with any large-scale event in the city, the department also will deploy bomb-sniffing dogs and plainclothes officers whose job is to blend in with the crowd.

“I think we’ve got a sound plan, but it always requires some adjustments, and that’s what we’re in the process of doing now,” Kelly said. […]

Source www.northjersey.com