By Commissioner William J. Bratton, Former Police Commissioner of the City of New York

As told to THINK editor Meredith Bennett-Smith; edited for clarity.

New York remains the number one terrorist target in the world. We represent so much that is abhorrent to terrorists like ISIS. We are the entertainment capital of the world, we are the capital of finance, we are home to a large Jewish population — there is just so much here for these people to hate.

The attack that occurred yesterday in New York City, on the West Side, on the bike path that runs along the Hudson River, was tragic. Eight lives were lost, the most lives lost in a terror attack in New York City since 9/11.

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We cannot prevent everything, everywhere. That is the reality. At the same time, we cannot let the fear of these attacks be such a constant that we live our lives in fear. We cannot do that.

So could it have been prevented? The New York Police Department works very hard to try to prevent terror attacks. And so many attacks have been prevented. But you can’t prevent them all. Yesterday was a very clear example of that.

Add to this the fact that we’re seeing an increasing rate of violence. A little over a year ago, there was a bombing on 23rd street, in Chelsea. And as we see in both that instance and yesterday’s incident, some of these attacks are ultimately successful.