NEVER FEAR, YOU CAN SHOP HERE
By Graham Rayman
An infant-sized bio-chem suit for $495. A reconditioned geiger counter. The "Exec-U-Chute." Potassium iodide tablets. And a row of fetchingly displayed gas masks.
In what might be considered a sign of the times, a boutique selling anti-terror gear opens today a few blocks from Ground Zero. The Nassau Street store, known as "Safer America," is being touted as the "first anti-terrorism store in America."
"We want to empower the public," said Harvey Kushner, the terrorism pundit and a co-owner of the store. "The fear factor can be crippling. We believe the public needs and wants to have some control of their own destiny. If the world was in different, more pristine times, these products wouldn't be necessary."
Kushner, the author of several books on terrorism and a staple of television talk shows, said the store brings gear that has long been the province of mail-order companies into a more conventional retail market.
Customers will be trained to use the equipment properly, as well as offered safety seminars.
Items for sale range from the $99 Raditect, a radiation-detection gadget, to a $3,500 device that tests for hazardous materials, to a $6,700 vacuum that can clear a car interior of deadly toxins.
"That item is really for executives who travel," Kushner said.
There also is the Advantage 1000 riot control agent gas mask, and the SGE 1000 mask, which has an attachment that allows the wearer to drink from a water bottle without removing the mask. And the "Exec-u-Chute" is a $845 parachute for people who work in tall buildings and may need to escape.
Glenn Corbett, a professor of fire science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, described the concept as a throwback to the 1950s and the days of "civil defense" and homemade bunkers. "If it heightens people's awareness, it's a good thing," Corbett said. "But it's important that buyers know how to use the equipment and what the limitations are."
Along a rain-drenched Nassau Street, there was a range of views on the wisdom behind the venture.
"I can't see anyone making money on that unless there is another attack or unless the politicians have people too terrified," said LaBrue Muhammad, 37. "People don't need to think about it all the time. I can't see getting up in the morning and saying, 'Honey, let's go shop in the terrorism store.'"
Alan Blass, 46, standing outside a Nassau Street shoe store, wasn't sure of the benefit. "The public clearly has experienced enough, and there is no reason for this kind of alarmist thing," he said. "Especially in the shadow of the World Trade Center."
But Jamal Ferhani, 43, at the nearby Beekman Deli, saw the positive. "If there is a future attack, it's good to have something handy."
Copyright 2002 Newsday
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