Transcript: Mayor Adams Holds Briefing on Security Preparations In Advance of Former President Trump’s Rally Sunday Evening at Madison Square Garden

October 26, 2024

Deputy Mayor Chauncey Parker, Public Safety: Good afternoon, I'm Chauncey Parker, I'm the deputy mayor for public safety, and I'm joined today with Mayor Adams, Commissioner Donlon, and the leadership of the NYPD for a security briefing on the rally tomorrow, former President Trump at Madison Square Garden, and it's for a security briefing.

There's no agency in the world better prepared to ensure the safety of this event than the NYPD to ensure the safety and the peaceful right to protest of all the people, anybody who will be there. And for that security briefing, I'll begin with the mayor of New York City, honored to introduce Mayor Eric Adams.

Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you so much, D.M. Parker, and I think you stated it right. This city, we have a rich and proud tradition of the right to peacefully protest. We want to emphasize on peaceful.

The rally tomorrow, it's a part of a long series of rallies and political activities that are taking place, not only here in the city, in the state, but across our entire country, and New York is going to be prepared through the vigilance of the New York City Police Department. There's a reason we still remain as the safest big city in America, and it is one of the greatest symbols of that, is how we protect democracy in this city. And safeguarding events of any size is something that NYPD does better than any police department on the globe.

Tomorrow, New Yorkers are going to see a large police presence around Madison Square Garden for the presidential candidate Trump's rally. There will be many protections that you will see, and some that you will not see. Our combined efforts through our intelligence as well as our undercover officers will ensure that the area is safe, just as we have carried out for several big events that have taken place in the last few months and years. Pedestrians and vehicle closures will be in effect leading up to and during the event.

West 32nd and West 33rd Streets will be closed to vehicle and pedestrian traffic between 6th and 7th Avenues. And there will be restrictions in place on 7th Avenue for pedestrians between West 29th and West 34th Streets. New Yorkers should also expect periodic traffic closures on 7th Avenue between West 29th and West 34th streets. Subways will remain open. The best way to get around the city and the best way to get to the Garden is via subway. Riders exiting the stations around Madison Square Garden, there will be special procedures in place as well.

Those riding the subway will be exiting on the 8th Avenue side of Madison Square Garden instead of the 7th Avenue side. There will be uniformed officers and New York City Transit workers at the station to help navigate the movement of people and where the proper detours are. We urge New Yorkers to avoid driving in the area. It is going to be an extremely crowded vehicle traffic flow and so we are really urging New Yorkers to take public transportation.

And if you are traveling through Midtown Manhattan tomorrow, please use mass transit no matter where you are moving to. Security is everyone's responsibility so as we say over and over again, see something, say something, do something, notify the authorities. And let me be clear, here in the city we believe in the right of free speech and open debate. We believe in working out our differences through our democratic process and today the democratic process continues with the start of early voting throughout New York City. This is your chance to be heard and make a determination on who you choose to vote for. So whether you do so today or in the coming days, get out and vote. We say that over and over again.

And while we will always respect and protect the right to peaceful protest, there will be zero tolerance for crime, blocking traffic, graffiti or disorderly behavior. And months ago I made it clear that those engaging in political battles need to take down the temperature and I am renewing that call today. We should use proper discourse to talk about the political issues so Americans and New Yorkers can make their determination. Do not come to our city and try to cause problems.

The NYPD is well versed in handling protests and has the ability to deploy additional resources at a moment's notice should there be any need. Men and women of the Police Department and our other law enforcement agencies will be here to ensure this event, like many other events, will be carried out in a peaceful manner. I'm going to now turn it over to interim police commissioner, Commissioner Donlon.

Interim Police Commissioner Thomas Donlon: Good afternoon. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you for your support and always providing the NYPD tools and resources to keep New Yorkers safe.

Just to reiterate what the mayor has stated, the NYPD has been handling these large events for a very, very long time. Tomorrow's rally will be safe, it will be secure, and we're doing everything possible to minimize the impact on New Yorkers. But again, if you don't have to be in the MSG area tomorrow, please don't be. The temporary street closures will make it very difficult to get around so we strongly urge people to avoid the area and to take mass transportation wherever possible.

And regarding any demonstration at the event, as the mayor stated, as always, the NYPD will protect everyone's right to peacefully protest. But we will never, never tolerate any violence, property damage, or any criminal activity whatsoever. No Police Department is better prepared, equipped, and trained to handle these events than the NYPD. And tomorrow will be no exception. Thank you.

Deputy Commissioner Tarik Sheppard, Public Information, Police Department: Alright, with that, we'll take a few questions.

Question: Talk about MSG itself as a facility to guard. Is it a safe facility in general, or are there lots of issues there that leave security vulnerable?

Interim Commissioner Donlon From my experience, and I know individuals involved with the MSG Security Department, and they have a very robust and professional guard service inside. But if any issue occurs, the NYPD will be available for any arrest possibility or to handle anything that arises above their level of service.

Question: A question for the commissioner or the mayor. Are you anticipating any specific counter-protesting tomorrow? And if so, what's the extent of it? Where do you think it might pop up? How many people?

Mayor Eric Adams: Deputy Commissioner Weiner.

Deputy Commissioner Rebecca Weiner, Intelligence and Counterterrorism, Police Department: Yes, and Chief Chell as well can contribute. We are expecting some protests, and we have been dealing with protests for a long time, obviously, but in a very increased cadence over the last year. There will be designated areas, and we expect people to do exactly what the mayor and the police commissioner have said. Protests exercise their First Amendment rights lawfully, legally. No tolerance for disruption, destruction, or criminality.

Chief John Chell, Chief of Patrol, Police Department: Alright, we've handled, as we've well said numerous times, we've handled about 4,300 protests in the last year. We're fully prepared for tomorrow to secure the perimeter of Madison Square Garden, specifically 34th to 29th, 6th to 8th Avenue.

We'll have many of our Police Department assets on display, some you will see, some you won't see, including our federal partners. You will see a uniformed, heavy uniformed presence around the Garden. You'll see heavy weapons teams, counter-terrorism, aviation, a transit footprint on that 7th Avenue, rocker vehicles, and many more. We are the best at what we do. We prepare for protests every day, and we will have a very safe day tomorrow for all New Yorkers.

Question: Hi Mr. Mayor, I wondered if I could ask you about any communications you've been having with the Trump campaign about this rally or otherwise, and if you believe, as others have said, that the former president is a fascist?

Mayor Eric Adams: You know, I have been, I had those terms hurled at me by some political leaders in the city, using terms like Hitler and fascists. My answer is no.

I know what Hitler has done, and I know what a fascist regime looks like. I think, as I've called over and over again, that the level of conversation, I think we could all dial down the temperature, and I've heard people say that the former president should not be able to have a rally in Madison Square Garden. I strongly disagree. This is America, this is New York, and I think it's important that we allow individuals to exercise their right to get their message clear, to New Yorkers, and our job as a city and as a police department is to make sure they can do that in a peaceful way.

I think that we must be extremely cautious. The heat we turn up today, pre-election, is going to have to be the heat we're going to have to govern in, and I think we need to show a level of respectable communication, and so when people called me fascist and other terminologies, I didn't like it, and I don't think it's fitting to anyone to state that the former president is equal to being Hitler. I just think that this is a city where we have the largest Jewish population, antisemitism is on the rise nationally.

We need to do everything we can to push back on that level of antisemitic tone and anti-Semitic issues that we're facing in the city. Let's have a safe, fair, democratic process and show the globe how we're able to do it correctly.

Question: I just wanted to ask about numbers. Do you have any information of how many people we expect, of how far away across the country people are expected to come tomorrow, and including both attendees and protesters, do you have an expected number of how many people will be there?

Chief Chell: So in terms of Madison Square Garden, you have to register online for entry, which is 19,000 first come first served, so we expect throughout the night the people that are showing up early because we want a better seat in the Garden, in the Madison Square Garden.

In terms of protesters right now, what we know about, we're not preparing for a large number, but we are prepared for a large number at all times, like we've been doing throughout the year. What was the last part of the question?

Question: How far across the country do you expect people to come?

Chief Chell: Oh, I can't speak to that, but like I said, we're prepared for anyone to come from this country to Madison Square Garden in a peaceful way, and like I said, we'll have a safe day tomorrow.

Interim Commissioner Donlon: Just one other point. We've dedicated a number of resources towards this event, and our counterintelligence unit, led by Rebecca Weiner, has done a terrific job monitoring any activity that may affect New York City. She's in contact with federal, state, and local officials, and also individuals overseas in the event there's any information that she receives.

So we have that presence, and that's important. I think New Yorkers should understand that it's just not the criminal piece we're looking at, we also look at the intelligence and the terrorism piece, which is important. That's what you have to do today, being proactive.

Chief Chell: Dean, our joint operations center will be open, fully open, 11:00 tomorrow morning.

Question: [Inaudible] and also, when was the city notified by the Trump organization that they wanted to have a rally at Madison Square Garden?

Chief Chell: Alright, so let's look at your first question. The Ranger game tonight is anticipated to end at 10:00. That's when our detail will start. Roughly around 2, 3:00 in the morning, we'll be shut down from 34th to 29th and 6th to 8th. Alright, and then the program itself begins around 2:30 and goes to 6:30. That's the anticipated time.

Mayor Adams: And the time of the notification?

Chief Chell: So I can tell you, since late September, we've had numerous meetings and physical walkthroughs with the Police Department, Manhattan South Borough, Secret Service, community leaders, Transportation, so we've been practicing for this for roughly four weeks now.

Question: How are you guys tracking a specific threat? Are you concerned about that at all?

Commissioner Weiner: So we are not tracking any specific credible threats to the event. As you all know, this is a very elevated threat environment generally, and I feel like we say this at every press conference because it continues to be true.

So every detail like this is calibrated very individually and very specifically based on the threat environment. As you all know, the former president had two attempted assassinations against him over the last three months. We also did a very similar event at Radio City Music Hall at the end of March, which included President Biden, former Presidents Obama and Clinton. Very similar security posture in light of everything going on around the world.

So again, we're applying a lot of resources to this, not just because of the hypothetical what-ifs, but because of everything we're seeing unfold across the country and around the world, and that's why we're going to be very well prepared for tomorrow.

Question: Just one other thing in detail, is there specific security measures like drones, plainclothes officers?

Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry, Operations, Police Department: Yes, thank you for the question. We'll be working with our federal partners in regards to any type of unidentified drones, hostile drones we call them, with our drone mitigation program.

We'll identify those drones, and we'll work with our federal partners to take them down, and if there's an arrest to be made, there'll be an arrest. If there's a summons to be issued, there'll be a summons issued. One thing that will definitely happen is that we will be confiscating the drones. We will have drone teams strategically placed throughout Madison Square Garden.

Some drones will have our drone truck stationed directly in front, which will be streaming live into our Joint Operations Center, and there'll be links sent out to the executive staff that you'll see here in a day so that they can watch real time what is happening outside the stadium.

Deputy Commissioner Sheppard: I would just remind all New Yorkers that you can go to NYPD News for all the road closures and mass transit being in effect and which ways you need to get around the city tomorrow. So with that, thank you, and let's have a safe event tomorrow. Thanks a lot.

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