Ahead of the UN General Assembly High-Level Week, which will be attended by world leaders, the Secret Service (SS) and the New York Police Department (NYPD) counter-terrorism team have activated state-of-the-art security equipment and entered emergency security mode. As this is the first UN General Assembly High-Level Week since the outbreak of the Gaza War, with the leaders of Israel and Palestine visiting New York at the same time, and with the recent attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, interest in security and security issues is higher than ever.
According to reports from the Associated Press and other news agencies, the Secret Service is setting up a “brain center” in the basement of the UN headquarters building in Manhattan, New York, to respond to security threats in real time in preparation for the UN General Assembly High-Level Week, which will be held for a week starting on the 24th.
The UN General Assembly General Debate is the annual highlight of the UN General Assembly, where the heads of state, prime ministers, ministers, and other representatives of each country from the 193 UN member states take turns to speak at the podium. According to the UN, this year, 87 heads of state, as well as 140 heads of state, including vice presidents, crown princes, and heads of government, are scheduled to visit the General Assembly to speak. The UN General Assembly High-Level Week is notorious for turning New York City into a “traffic hell” for a week every September and October. The main reason is that when heads of state move around, they provide road control and vehicle security, and block traffic on major roads around the UN headquarters.
This year, the security authorities plan to provide the same service to the 140 heads of state as they move between their accommodations, conference halls, and event venues. In addition to the roads, New York City Police Department helicopters will monitor the ground situation from the sky, and the Coast Guard will block access to ships near the UN headquarters. During High-Level Week, aircraft will also not be allowed to fly over the nearby airspace. This year’s UN General Assembly High-Level Week is attracting even more attention as it is the first high-level event to be held since the outbreak of the Gaza war, triggered by a surprise attack by the Palestinian armed group Hamas on October 7 last year.
The recent simultaneous explosions of radios and radios in Lebanon have heightened tensions in the international community, which is higher than ever, and this is also influencing the strengthening of security. In particular, the list of visiting leaders includes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, which is heightening tensions among the U.S. Secret Service.
The series of incidents that embarrassed the Secret Service, such as former President Trump’s ear injury during an outdoor campaign rally in Pennsylvania in July and an assassination attempt on his head at a golf course in Florida on the 15th, are also factors that are adding to the burden on the Secret Service. “While the war is happening far away, the agencies in charge are thinking about what is happening in the home countries of the key figures and what can be expected in New York,” the New York Police Department’s Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence and Counterterrorism told the Associated Press.