I've given this some thought as well, as I work right above Grand Central Station, with my wife about ten blocks north of me (though currently out on maternity leave). As I've noted before, most of my preps are built around the idea that I'll need to walk home to Brooklyn after any incident.

I figure an actual nuclear detonation in Manhattan and all bets are off - any reasonable sized device and I'm in the blast, flash, or overpressure radius and I'll get no warning. thus, I don't worry about it. (Well, I worry about it, but I don't seriously prepare for it)

Dirty bomb is, in my mind, the most likely NBC scenario we might face. My research suggests that in most cases, if you survive the initial blast (again, no warning, so a matter of luck to a large degree) you're likely to be OK. The thing you don't want to do it breath in radioactive dust from the blast. Thus, I keep N95 dust masks on hand. I actually used a dust mask after the steam pipe explosion last year (you can search the archives for my longish write-up of my experiences that day) I suppose some goggles might be handy to keep dust out of my eyes as well. I'll have to look into that.

I have not come up with a good answer to dealing with chemical contamination. Maybe assume that the chemical agent is heavier than air and try and bug in on a high floor of the office building for a few days? I could get 40-stories up pretty easily. No idea how I'd figure out that I needed to do that, however.

Anybody know what the gas masks are that are issued to regular NYPD patrol officers and subway workers? I've often wondered what they are designed to protect against. They are worn in a bag hanging down from the belt with a strap around the thigh and started to appear shortly after the 9/11/01 attacks. I commute by subway, and might want to protect myself against the same thing the city protects its own workers against. then again, I might want more protection!

That said, I don't see a chemical attack in the subway working out well for anyone caught in the danger zone. I just don't see me calmly donning my gas mask while everyone around me calmly dies. I suspect I'd be fighting for my mask the minute it comes out of my bag.

I'm intrigued by the Breath Of Life mask, Dan, for smoke protection. Do you find it easy to carry?