CIVIL DEFENSE: Facing Up to Fallout

A man who takes the cold war seriously, New York’s Governor Nelson Rockefeller, last week sternly reminded 17 million fellow New Yorkers of the Soviet Union’s capacity “to devastate the lives of our people in every corner of our state.” Then, with tough-minded logic, he urgently endorsed the recommendation of a special study committee that fallout shelters—stocked with two weeks’ food supply—be required by law in every private and public building in New York by July 1, 1963.

In a message to the state defense council, Republican Rockefeller said fallout protection “is essential to our military defense . . . our negotiating strength . . . to the deterrence of war . . . and our ability to withstand nuclear blackmail.” Estimated cost of Rocky’s program: $1.5 billion. On a do-it-yourseli basis, a homeowner with a basement might build his shelter for about $50 a person; he would pay at least twice as much if a contractor did the job. To sweeten the plan, shelters would be exempt from local real estate taxes and construction costs could be deducted from state income tax. “Put the overall program into effect as soon as possible,” urged the study committee. “We may have less time than we think.” “The legislature wouldn’t pass a mandatory program like that until a bomb had been dropped,” said one Albany politico. Said Rockefeller: “I would rather face political suicide than have our country or state wiped out by a nuclear attack because we did not have the courage to face up to our problems.”