By MES Dispatch Staff
The Briefing
- NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Wednesday a large-scale security operation will be in place Friday for the 25th anniversary commemoration of the Sept. 11 attacks in lower Manhattan.
- The operation will involve the NYPD working alongside the U.S. Secret Service and federal, state and local partners to secure the 9/11 Memorial site.
- Vice President JD Vance and former Presidents Joe Biden, Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton are expected to attend; President Donald Trump will not.
- Security measures include heavily armed Counterterrorism Bureau officers, counter-drone teams, perimeter fencing and street closures south of Canal Street beginning Friday morning.
- Mayor Zohran Mamdani said there are no known credible threats against the ceremony, though officials said every precaution is being taken.
NEW YORK — A “massive security operation” will be in place Friday as New York City commemorates the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a news conference Wednesday in lower Manhattan.
“That operation reflects the significance of the 25th anniversary and the attendance of dignitaries, former presidents and other senior officials,” Tisch said. “The NYPD will have a significant presence throughout lower Manhattan, working alongside the United States Secret Service and our federal, state, and local partners to secure the memorial site, protect those attending the ceremony, and maintain public safety throughout the surrounding area.”
President Donald Trump will not attend Friday’s ceremony at the 9/11 Memorial, but Vice President JD Vance is expected to attend, along with former Presidents Joe Biden, Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, as well as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Tisch said officers from the department’s Counterterrorism Bureau, many heavily armed, will be visible throughout the area, with counter-drone teams prepared to electronically take control of and land unauthorized drones. The ceremony will be accessible only to those with tickets, and the Secret Service will install security fencing around the memorial site’s perimeter and along the east side of the West Side Highway, from Liberty to Fulton streets. The area south of Canal Street, from Broadway to West Street, will be closed to vehicle traffic beginning Friday morning, with pedestrian access also restricted.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani said there are no known credible threats against the ceremony but that every precaution is being taken.
NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counterterrorism Rebecca Weiner said the terrorism landscape has changed significantly over the past 25 years. “It’s decentralized geographically (and) it’s diversified tremendously ideologically,” Weiner said. “Now, we’re not primarily dealing with Al Qaeda, or Al Qaeda ISIS, but a proliferation of threats coming from conspiracy theories, grievances, nihilistic violence, far left, far right, anti-government, all of those things.” She said the more individualized nature of current threats requires heightened vigilance from law enforcement.