It's said they did notify the NYPD, and other local police agencies. BUT, they asked them not to tell the public. NYPD didn't even tell DA Mayor. I hope the gun grabbing POS had to change his drawyers.
Still an ill advised idea. Not telling the public makes a narrow kind of sense, wouldn't want "someone" with a Stinger or SA-14 to take a shot at the backup VC-25 while it was low and slow. But I think I'd have risked it to avoid the panic that ensued.
Heck set the F-16s up as Wild Weasels, and you might bag a Jihadie, and the missile would probably miss anyway, especially if it wasn't a Stinger.
If people had been *thinking* they could have come up with a carefully worded statement, to provide to authorities for public release, mentioning the planned flights, how the aircraft would be close to buildings, not-to-worry because it’s a military exercise, without specifying that an Air Force One aircraft would be part of the exercise. Still, I think if Bloomberg (or his deputy commissioner) had been informed as to the type of flight path, proximity to buildings, etc, Bloomberg would have put a stop to it, or at least gone on the evening news the night before and gotten heavy media saturation by pitching a public fit, saying he’d requested it be cancelled, but White House/Defense refused, etc. Would have had the effect of getting the population of the area very clear on how bad these flights were expected to look, and thus prevented the panic. Too early to blame the NYPD deputy commissioner who didn’t pass on the notice, because it seems doubtful that the notice contained a meaningful description of what was planned. New Yorkers are not spooked by just any planes overhead, even at reasonably low altitudes, and if, as reported, the notice contained a request not to disseminate the information to the public, a reasonable reader would have assumed that the details of the planned flights didn’t involve activities that would cause reasonable people to panic and flee their offices and homes. Some of the people who have reported their first hand experiences said they looked out their office window and saw jet engines coming straight at them, due to the sharp turns that were being made.
They didn’t tell the public on purpose. If they had given prior notice and explanation people would have been furious about spending big bucks on a photo-op that could have been easily done with Photoshop.
Of course the VC-25 has its own countermeasures too.