Traffic Will Suck Once Trump Arrives, Don't Drive In Manhattan: Mayor

NEW YORK CITY — Sure it will make U.S. history, but first, it's going to really screw with New York City traffic.

The historic criminal arraignment of former President Donald Trump likely will snarl traffic throughout Manhattan Tuesday as a mass deployment of NYPD officers works to both protect the city and the ex-president himself, officials announced Monday.

Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell held an extraordinary briefing that offered broad strokes, but few details, about how New York City will deal with the unprecedented spectacle of a former president being criminally charged.

Adams and Sewell warned New Yorkers of rolling street closures near Manhattan Criminal Court at Centre Street, Hogan Place and Baxter Street, Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue between 56th and 57th streets and elsewhere in the city.

Sewell noted a street near Trump Tower will be closed and left the door open for even more heightened security near the courthouse itself.

City dwellers should use mass transit as much as possible, officials said, while declining to get into specifics on exactly where street closures will be or how many NYPD officers will be deployed.

"There has been no specific credible threats to our city at this time, and New Yorkers should go on with their regular activities,” Adams said.

Security has already been tightened around Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who convened the grand jury that led to the indictment. Bragg, who is Black, has received a torrent of racist emails and death threats, including a letter filled with a white powder, amid the indictment, the New York Daily News first reported.

Indeed, Bragg garnered the brunt of Trump's considerable bile — among other attacks, the former president shared a photo of himself holding a baseball bat next to another of Bragg. At one point, Trump ominously warned of "potential death & destruction" if a charge was brought by a "degenerate psychopath," presumably Bragg.

Trump said he'll arrive in New York City Monday afternoon and stay in Trump Tower ahead of his arraignment Tuesday.

The indictment remained sealed Monday, but it has been reported he faces more than 30 criminal counts, likely related to a hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, in Manhattan's criminal court.

“If we find the need to institute checkpoints, we will do so,” she said about the courthouse.

The NYPD is preparing space for protesters to express themselves lawfully, but Sewell issued a warning for those who go beyond the legal bounds.

“I will remind everyone that violence and destruction are not part of legitimate lawful expression, and it will never be tolerated in our city,” she said.

The potential for violence with a Trump indictment has set city officials and resident alike on edge since the former president erroneously said he'd be arrested on March 21.

Trump has warned of the potential for "death and destruction" and called for "PROTEST, PROTEST, PROTEST!!!"