New 4 Times Square system aids first responders.

Emergency services personnel, politicians and the press gathered last week at Durst Corporation's flagship 4 Times Square building to witness a revolutionary, if seemingly mundane, event: a man talking into a telephone.

It was the fact that the man on the phone was FDNY Chief of Operations Salvatore Cassano and that he was communicating with firefighters via their walkie talkies in the dense interior of the building that made the common scene of a receiver held to an ear not only important, but at times emotional.

While the walkie-talkie communications systems used by first responders tend to work well outdoors, the density of skyscapers, combined with the relative low power of the walkie talkie's battery-based signal, can cut off communications between the ground and those searching buildings. Such was the case on September 11, according to James Boyle, a retired firefighter who lost his firefighter son in the North Tower of the World Trade Center, which collapsed with 23 minutes after the South Tower.

"We lost 121 firefighters after the first building collapsed," said Boyle, visibly moved. "I don't care what anyone else says, the radio response was not correct that day ... The radio did not work."

The system Durst corporation installed at 4 Times Square, and is in the process of installing at its eight other major properties in Manhattan, uses redundant receiver/amplification devices, known as repeaters, that operate on key emergency and company frequencies to ensure first responders in the building can have unfettered communication with personnel on the ground during an emergency. Using a key-operated emergency phone in the lobby, ground personnel can also hail headquarters.

The World Trade Center had a single repeater system that was did not work on September 11, perhaps damaged by the impact of the planes. The Durst system looks to avoid that by having their broadcast repeaters operate from several different points on the building simultaneously.

"Even if something happened to the equipment up top, we could boost the signal down bottom and cover [first responders] there. Or the same thing in reverse," said said John Lyons, director of broadcast communications for the Durst Organization.

The system took the Durst Organization more than a year to complete due to changes in technology. The price tag, according to company co-President Jody Durst: $300,000 for 4 Times Square, or $0.17 psf.

"First Responders' safety depends on the ability to communicate in the most extreme circumstance," Said City Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta in a statement, "By adding an extra layer of communication capability, the Durst Organization has improved the safety of its tennants and all First Responders. This is corporate responsibility at its best."