A month after the bombing, the New York City Fire Chiefs Association sent Mayor David N. Dinkins a letter. “This was nothing more than sheer grandstanding, a cheap publicity stunt done at the expense of public safety,” the chiefs wrote. “The people removed via helicopter were in no danger until the Police Department arrived and gravely jeopardized their safety by this stupid act.” The tenants simply should have waited for the smoke to clear and then walked down the stairs. At least, that was how the chiefs saw it.
