new york new york city quietly begin remove corrode yellow nuclear fallout shelter sign append thousands build 1960s say many mislead cold war relics long denote functional shelter small metal sign remnant anxieties nuclear arm race unite state former soviet union prompt u.s. president john f. kennedy create shelter program 1961 cities across nation sign simple design three join triangles inside circle become emblem era new yorkers may barely notice today others uneasy reminder threat may alter diminish vanish although cold war era long end north korea continue work develop nuclear-tipped missiles capable hit unite state amid bellicose rhetoric washington pyongyang nuclear explosion see even less likely cold war catastrophe ever strike sign still linger thousands would best ignore city officials disaster preparedness experts say aftermath nearby nuclear explosion survivors count sign lead safety radioactive fallout needlessly dash outside would likely find rattle lock doors perhaps break build laundry room bike-storage area maintenance shelter system entail federal fund stock shelter food water end decades ago removal sign public school build previously report intend partly reduce potential confusion accord city department education michael aciman department spokesman confirm designate fallout shelter create city school long active say department aim finish unscrew sign school wall roughly jan. 1. although tens thousands fallout shelter sign place around city federal government office civil defense vanish old build renovate demolish city officials say first coordinate effort remove office civil defense eventually abolish 1970s subsume federal emergency management agency fema aciman decline say whether give sign technically federal property u.s. government consult fema say mind anyway fema position regard sign jenny burke fema spokeswoman write email tuesday although agency maintain list old shelter locations add part ongoing plan effort agency conduct research retrieve office civilian defense record city removal appear somewhat haphazard one brooklyn street sign school photograph reuters month subsequently remove second school block away still sign attach albeit screw miss history buff jeff schlegelmilch fond enough sign stick replica office door columbia university national center disaster preparedness deputy director love see sign disaster planner come say best ignore bad mislead go cost people live consensus federal government downward designate shelter outmode concept update contingency plan widely adopt since al qaeda attack unite state sept. 11 2001 schlegelmilch say nuclear explosion ever happen far enough blast center survive would well head low interiors standard residential commercial build ideally windowless basement shelter radioactive particles outside burn skin cause serious illness death cars hand terrible schlegelmilch say particles sail right vehicle thin exterior nyc emergency management agency run city disaster preparations involve decision staff welcome sign removal nancy silvestri agency press secretary say even sign go school many would remain apartment build structure city officials uncertain jurisdiction say eliot calhoun agency chemical biological radiological nuclear explosives planner see sign unhelpfully muddy water spend years endlessly fin message design flash alert cellphones hop never send nerve center agency brooklyn headquarter call onto screen current form nuclear explosion report shelter basement/center build close windows/doors every single time look change little bite say 90 character try save live really think much new york remove mislead nuclear fallout shelter sign