By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2026-09-17 22:51:42 | Updated at 2026-09-17 23:46:06
1 hour ago
The UN General Assembly will mean gridlock headaches for New Yorkers and a partial lockdown of the Big Apple amid continuing antisemitic hate crimes and tensions between Israel and City Hall.
Large swaths of Midtown Manhattan will be closed to traffic and there will be a limited no-fly zone over the area when some 200 foreign dignitaries flock into the city for the annual gathering of world leaders, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch and Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced Thursday.
Cops will also be kept on their toes policing protests during the international gathering, with the NYPD, FBI, Secret Service, State Department Diplomatic Security Service and United Nations police deployed throughout the metropolitan area, officials said.
President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are both due to attend.
“Thousands of uniformed NYPD officers will be posted at and around UN headquarters all week, supported by heavy weapons teams, our aviation and harbor units, K-9, the bomb squad, NYPD’s drone team, counterterrorism officers, and other specialized units,” Tisch said.
“As always, there will be security measures that you will see, and others that you will not see,” she said.
City DOT issued a gridlock alert beginning Monday, with street closures around the UN, with rolling pedestrian and vehicle closures, and flight restrictions within two nautical miles of the building.
Cops will also be out in force to keep an eye out for trouble and keep the peace at several planned protests that will coincide with the assembly — police said permits have been issued for at least 55 General Assembly related events.
This year’s General Assembly, which convenes at the United Nations on Tuesday and is scheduled to run through Sept. 28, comes as the five boroughs continue to see a spike in antisemitic hate crimes stemming from the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that launched the Gaza War.
Antisemitic hate crimes surged by 8% through the end of August this year compared to the same period last year and accounting for more than half of the confirmed hate crimes over that span.
Local Jewish leaders have blamed Mamdani, New York City’s first Muslim mayor, for anti-Israeli rhetoric, which has been a major point of contention for his critics.
He sparked outrage in July when he said he would seek to have Netanyahu arrested when he set foot in the city for the General Assembly, a threat that Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar laughed off.
This week, Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, fired back by calling for Mamdani to be arrested ahead of Netanyahu’s arrival in the city next week.
Netanyahu’s presence in the Big Apple is expected to spark another rash of pro-Palestinian protests, although Tisch and Mamdani assured that there are no specific threats.
“I want to be clear: there are no known specific or credible threats against the United Nations General Assembly or our city at this time,” the mayor told reporters.
“However, our security posture will be elevated out of an abundance of caution,” he said. “This is standard procedure. New Yorkers can expect to see a visible increase in officers deployed across our city, as well as a heightened police presence surrounding the United Nations building.”
In terms of traffic, First Avenue will be closed from 41st Street to 48th Street, and 44th Street to 47th Street will be closed from First Avenue to Second Avenue daily for the duration of the assembly.
42nd Street will also close from First to Second Avenue for the duration of the assembly, and the 42nd Street exit from the FDR will be blocked off each day while the meeting is in session until around 9 p.m.
Passenger vehicles and bicycles will be permitted to use the First Avenue Tunnel to travel north through the area, and vehicles requiring access to Tudor City will be able to enter via 41st and 43rd streets.
