Minor changes were made to Plas Mawr in the process, such as the installation of partition walls to subdivide the larger rooms, but it remained largely intact.
The number of robberies and killings of yellow-cab drivers has dropped sharply since the installation of the partitions became mandatory, the city officials added.
Mr. Bienvenido added that if the city oversaw the installation of the partitions, he could be more certain that they would be genuinely bulletproof.
Mr. Giuliani has proposed creating a $5 million program to help independently owned and operated cabs pay for the installation of bulletproof partitions between drivers and passengers and security cameras in the vehicles.
To quantify them, modal properties of two structurally identical full-scale floors in a real fitted-out building were measured and compared to results for the same floors prior to installation of internal partitions and cladding panels.
However, when tested after the installation of internal partitions and external cladding panels, it was found that the addition of these non-structural elements increased the stiffness of both floors and also altered significantly their modes of vibration, in particular natural frequencies and mode shapes.
He has even known that the city, alarmed by a spate of shootings of livery drivers this year, would provide $325 to each driver, enough to cover installation of a partition and about half the cost of a camera.
"In addition, since each apartment is generally required to have at least one room of at least 150 square feet, the installation of a partition may run afoul of this requirement in certain cases".
The theoretical basis behind the installation of bullet-resistant partitions or security cameras is that decreasing the opportunity for the desired reward and/or increasing the probability of a perpetrator being caught would decrease robberies and assaults among taxicab drivers (Jeffrey [1971]).
