The Secret Service’s next challenge: Keeping dozens of world leaders safe at the UN General Assembly

Below the United Nations headquarters, a high-security facility called the “Brain Center” is buzzing with activity ahead of next week’s high-level meeting of the UN General Assembly. This annual pilgrimage brings more than 140 world leaders to New York City, including the leaders of Israel, Palestine and Ukraine.

Keeping them safe is the next big challenge for the US Secret Service.

The organization, under a cloud after the July assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump, is confident in its multi-tiered, multi-agency plan to protect the UN General Assembly, which is considered a special National Security event for the Super Bowl.

The system – created by the New York City police and the UN Security and Safety Service, among other agencies – includes not only motor vehicles and security detail, but NYPD helicopters and patrol boats, a dozen UN security teams K-9 sweep explosives , road closures. and traffic diversions. The Secret Service brings agents from posts around the world to the event. The Coast Guard is restricting access to the East River near the UN and the Federal Aviation Administration is closing the airport.

With so many presidents, prime ministers, kings and other dignitaries in one city and under one roof at the same time, the UN General Assembly is actually bigger than the Super Bowl. It is the most complex event the Secret Service is involved in each year.

This year, it comes at a very busy time highlighted by the Republican and Democratic conventions and the final weeks of the presidential campaign. Speaking Monday after the Secret Service foiled another apparent assassination attempt on Trump in Florida, Acting Director Ronald L. Rowe Jr. But, he said, they “rise up to the present” and meet the challenges.

“The level of activity is incredibly high,” said Patrick Freaney, special agent in charge of the Secret Service’s New York field office.

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The Associated Press got a rare look inside the security arrangements of the UN General Assembly, known as the UNGA, which includes a “Brain Center” and a coordination center that allows the Secret Service, NYPD and other agencies to communicate in real time to eliminate threats and obstacles. . . They also liaise with foreign security forces who protect each dignitary.

Freaney said the designation of a National Security Special Event – for special events of national importance – facilitates planning, communication and cooperation. The Secret Service is in charge, but the NYPD’s strong counter-terrorism and other operations, as well as the 300-person UN Security and Safety Service, play an important role.

“We have more than 140 heads of state, heads of state roaming around town,” Freaney said during a tour of the joint-operations center, which has space for 10 local and state agencies, including the FBI and Federal Emergency Management. Agency and the Departments of State and Defense.

“One of the most important things is getting everyone in here and leaving safely,” Freaney said. “Think about that the right way – bringing 140 vehicles to one place at the same time. This plays an important part in delivering that information safely.”

The Secret Service, NYPD and State Department will also use their command centers – in Brooklyn, at One Police Plaza in Manhattan and in a nearby hotel ballroom. The NYPD, the largest police force in the country, has its Joint Operations Center equipped to provide officers with real-time feed from security cameras, drone and helicopter cameras, and other sensitive information.

The UN Security and Safety Service, which is in charge of keeping the UN headquarters safe, has its mandate in the “Brain Center.”

Down the hall from the UN’s main mission hub, wall-to-wall monitors show live feeds from more than 1,400 security cameras in the 7.2-hectare headquarters. Everything is recorded and can be reviewed instantly. Automated voices warn of violations and potential emergencies. Computers generate real-time data and individual images of more than 22,000 people who pass through security checkpoints per day. Fire alarms tie directly into the city’s central dispatch system for quick response.

The command post is staffed around the clock by UN security officials who work 12-hour shifts while world leaders are in town. The goal, Inspector Malinda McCormack said, is to receive, analyze and disseminate information quickly.

Security plans for the UNGA began to take shape a few months ago. The Secret Service and its affiliates use past rallies – this is the 79th edition – as a blueprint, while making changes to change world events such as the wars in Gaza and Ukraine.

“There is incredible trust,” said Michael Browne, head of the UN Security and Safety Service. “There is a wonderful sense of unity and cooperation, which I think is a key ingredient for success in a complex and challenging task like the UNGA.”

As of Friday, authorities said, there were no specific or credible threats to the event.

But, Rebecca Weiner, deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism at the NYPD, acknowledged the “chaos, diversity and unpredictable nature of the threat environment” requires law enforcement to be resilient and anticipating all the many ways someone can seek to do harm.

“These are very different times,” Weiner said.

World leaders met for the first time at the UNGA since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, starting Israel’s offensive on Gaza that killed tens of thousands of people. NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell said Friday the department has collected more than 4,000 protests about the war, and more are expected next week.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas are both expected at the UNGA. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is also expected to return. Russian President Vladimir Putin will be absent but will send Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Although the war is far from the ocean, authorities are “thinking about what’s happening overseas in these home countries and what we can expect here,” Weiner said.

“The whole purpose of this meeting is to unite countries,” he added. “The whole purpose of our security posture is to make sure we do the same.”