This iconic New York skyscraper might really be a secret NSA spy hub

(Image credit: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

last updated 16 November 2016

One of New York City's most iconic and mysterious buildings might secretly house an NSA spy hub, The Intercept reports. The AT&T Long Lines Building at 33 Thomas St. in Lower Manhattan towers 29 stories high with no windows or lighting at night; the concrete structure can reportedly withstand an atomic blast. Publicly the building is understood to be an important telecommunications hub used for processing long-distance phone calls from around the globe and is operated by an AT&T subsidiary, the New York Telephone Company. AT&T, notably, was a partner in the NSA's surveillance programs.

Indeed, documents leaked by Edward Snowden to The Intercept seem to point to more suspicious activity going on within 33 Thomas St. "It [...] appears to be one of the most important National Security Agency surveillance sites on U.S. soil — a covert monitoring hub that is used to tap into phone calls, faxes, and internet data," the documents state.

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Inside 33 Thomas Street there is a major international "gateway switch," according to a former AT&T engineer, which routes phone calls between the United States and countries across the world. A series of top-secret NSA memos suggest that the agency has tapped into these calls from a secure facility within the AT&T building. The Manhattan skyscraper appears to be a core location used for a controversial NSA surveillance program that has targeted the communications of the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and at least 38 countries, including close U.S. allies such as Germany, Japan, and France. [The Intercept]

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.

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