As part of their cities' long-standing rivalry, New Yorkers and Washingtonians enjoy a rich tradition of poking fun at each other. But when it comes to protecting its residents against terrorism, the District just isn't even in the same league with New York, and that's nothing to laugh about.

The Big Apple has launched “Operation Atlas,” a $5 million a week emergency security plan. It includes expanded police patrols on city streets, focusing on government buildings, tourist attractions, financial institutions, hotels and houses of worship. Police equipped with pager-sized radiation detectors are conducting grid checks for radiological material. More bomb-sniffing dogs are patrolling the subways, and an additional 250 National Guard troops have been called up to assist the transit police. Police are also stopping and examining trucks at various checkpoints throughout Manhattan. The city's health department is collecting data on thousands of ER visits, looking for unusual patterns of symptoms. Up to 4,000 school safety officers will be available in emergencies, including evacuations and the operation of shelters.

Meanwhile, what is D.C. doing? In a March 18 news conference, Mayor Anthony Williams unveiled the District of Columbia's security plan for the war. The D.C. government is “monitoring the situation closely.” It is “testing communications systems” and conducting “100% i.d. checks” at all District government buildings. Working with the FBI, the D.C. police also are activating a grand total of 16 Joint Operations Command Center surveillance cameras (that's a little under one camera for every four square miles of town). These cameras will focus on key facilities and “infrastructure assets.” (Federal law-enforcement agencies have also stepped up security at key federal sites such as the White House.) The District is also receiving additional information from federal anti-terrorism authorities. And the D.C. Department of Health was planning to inoculate all of 30 health workers against smallpox last week, but the local NBC-TV affiliate reports that no health workers have been inoculated so far. More inoculations are "planned" for April. Basically, that was it.

“If there is any information to indicate that the District government should take additional precautionary measures, we are prepared to do that,” the mayor said at his March 18 press conference. “But at this point, we believe this is sufficient.”

Since then, the District placed the police on 12-hour shifts - and then cancelled the extended deployment. The number of police officers visible on city streets ranges from minimal to none in many downtown areas. And although Metro said that police with dogs will be patrolling the subway, I have yet to see one canine unit -- and I ride the red line during morning and evening rush hours five days a week. Metro also has purchased eight Geiger counters for the canine units that I haven't seen.

Some would doubtless view New York City's comprehensive security measures as somewhat extreme. For example, searching trucks creates inconvenient traffic jams. The measures are also very expensive, costing the city an estimated $5 million a week in police overtime. But unlike New York which experienced the worst of the devastation on 9/11, Washington didn't see any part of its downtown vaporized. We may not be as lucky the next time. New York City is pulling out all the stops because it wants to deny terrorists soft targets during this emergency and because it knows that a robust police presence can both help deter would-be attackers and reassure the public. Can we afford to do less?

The nation is at war, and we are at our highest stage of alert barring an imminent terrorist attack. It is therefore difficult to understand what accounts for the D.C. government's lethargic, slow-motion response. But Mayor Williams did suggest one possible explanation. At the March 18 news conference, the mayor said he was concerned that the District's heightened security might discourage people from visiting Washington just as it was getting ready to host the annual Cherry Blossom festival.

But surely that should not be a reason to avoid conspicuous security measures. If anything, the District needs visible security precautions to encourage tourism. People around the country and the world already know that our nation's capital is a prime Al Qaeda target. What they don't know is whether the D.C. government is handling the problem adequately. But even if tourism and security measures are incompatible, we have to be willing to sacrifice cherry blossoms when lives are at stake.

Requiring “100% i.d. checks” in D.C. government buildings isn't going to get the job done. Neither will cancelling extended police shifts. We need to do what New York is doing, albeit on a smaller D.C. scale. The CIA has warned that subways are particularly vulnerable to terrorist attack. So why don't commuters and tourists see more policemen and canine patrols in the Washington metro? While security cameras in the metro (assuming there are any) and elsewhere are useful, they are no substitute for the experienced eyes of a police officer or the trained nose of a weapons-sniffing dog. And while eight Geiger counters for the Metro police force is a start, it's hardly adequate to cover the entire subway system. Kudos to Metro for beginning to experiment with biochemical air sensors last fall, but it isn't clear how effective they are or how many (if any) were actually installed. But even assuming that some are up and running, their inconspicuous placement does not provide the deterrence that comes with patrols by uniformed police.

Implementing these measures is expensive. But these costs pale next to the cost in terms of lives lost and property destroyed that we know Al Qaeda seeks to inflict on us. New York City is incurring these heavy expenses even though it is struggling to close a budget shortfall of more than $3 billion. Can the District do any less for its citizens, who are equally at risk? Moreover, the federal government has now said that it will appropriate additional money to help the states and the District defray their counterterrorism bills, so there is still less excuse for inaction.

“When New Yorkers see the precautions we have put into place,” New York's Mayor Bloomberg said, “they should feel assured that the city is doing everything in its power to protect them. . . .” I want to feel that way about D.C. I hope the District government borrows liberally from New York City's playbook - and quickly.