The city authorities New Yorkin USArecently released a video in which they guide their population on how to act in the event of a nuclear attackmaterial that has caused great impact, but also much controversy.
The video, posted by emergency department of the city like a public service announcement (PSA, for its acronym in English), it begins with a woman walking in a city apparently devastated by a nuclear attack.
“There has been a nuclear attack. Don’t ask me how or why, just know that it’s blown up. So what do we do?”, the presenter is heard saying.
Immediately followingwards, the woman begins to enumerate the three steps to follow in the event of a nuclear attack: enter a building or closed area, move away from the windows and be attentive to the information disclosed by the media.
The video, published on YouTube, already has more than 800,000 views and is by far the most popular material on the official account of the emergency department of New York (The others barely reach a thousand views, on average).
Controversy in New York
In a recent article, The New York Times He stressed that the video did not have the desired effect, unleashing a wave of ridicule and criticism, focused on one question: what were the authorities thinking to publish such a video?
the mayor of New York, Eric Adams, came out in front of the critics. For the authority, the material can serve as “preparation”, in order to take the “necessary measures taking into account what is happening in Ukraine”.
“I don’t think it was alarmist. I am a great believer that it is better to be safe than sorry. (…) This was just following the attacks in Ukraine and a very proactive step has been taken to say that we are prepared. It doesn’t mean just a nuclear attack, it’s any natural disaster,” he stated.
However, this has not silenced critics. Researcher Donell Harvin, quoted by The New York Timescalled the ad “reckless” and “a fabulous waste” of taxpayer money.
According to the Emergency Department of the citywork began on the project at the end of 2019, shortly following the coronavirus pandemic COVID-19 hit the city; but due to the health emergency, the release of the video was postponed until last July.
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