The real-time intensive Urban Atmospheric Observatory (UAO) is a necessary step toward development and validation of new technologies in support of the New York City emergency management and anti-terrorism effort. For example, there are not currently enough wind sensors to allow confident estimation of transport speeds and directions of contaminants in the NYC area. There also are not adequate models for deep street canyons. The UAO is a dense array of meteorological instrumentation, remote sensing, satellite products, and model output, as well as radiation detection, gamma spectrometer and aerosol measurements distributed throughout the NYC region and also concentrated in a small area, a “neighborhood,” in the heart of Manhattan. The focus neighborhood, developed in a homogeneous urban area, and with a well-developed communication and data collection backbone, will be of immense utility for understanding how atmospheric models of all scales (from building through urban to regional scale) can be improved and how they can best be integrated into the city's emergency response program. The overall goal of this effort is to provide a demonstrated capability to predict the doses and exposures experienced by people threatened by chemical, biological, and radiological agents released in urban areas or upwind of them. It is accepted that fully deterministic forecasts of concentration at specific places and times are not feasible. Rather, it is the goal to provide accurate depictions of where people will be at risk, and where they will be safe. The UAO concept, design, and implementation are at an early phase and will be discussed. Results from a year-long pilot exercise in the King Street canyon, West Village, will be presented. The pilot exercise includes a comparison of roof-top winds and a roof-top SODAR that provides wind profiles to, typically, 75 m above the roof and two 3-D anemometers at the top and mid-level in the canyon.