“MAGA” will stand for “Make the Apple Gridlocked Again” as President Trump hits town for the UN General Assembly’s opening session this week, bringing with him an annual transit nightmare for Manhattan motorists.
Trump’s arrival Sunday night by helicopter in lower Manhattan brought with it the first wave of extensive street closures across the city, which will only get worse this week — with Monday through Friday already designated as Gridlock Alert days by the Department of Transportation.
Starting Monday, First Avenue is shut down from 42nd to 48th streets, with the exception of the tunnel underpass running between 41st and 48th streets.
Also closed to traffic 24/7 are 44th, 45th and 46th streets, between First and Second avenues.
From 5 a.m. until the close of session each day, 42nd Street will be a no-go from the FDR Drive to Second Avenue.
Other stretches of East 42nd Street, along with 57th Street and Second Avenue, will remain open but will have one lane reserved for emergency vehicles, which should be a plentiful sight throughout the week.
The closures are part of a massive security operation with the world’s leaders in town, devised and executed by members of more than a dozen agencies. The sensitive areas will be patrolled by thousands of elite law enforcement officers — both in uniform and plainclothes — and will be cordoned off by a slew of security measures.
They include hundreds of “blocker” vehicles along cordoned-off streets, among them 48 massive Department of Sanitation trucks, and 230 concrete roadblocks.
All of that adds up to a level of gridlock worthy of the holidays, leaving the DOT urging New Yorkers to leave their cars at home. To help entice commuters to stay off the streets, the DOT is directing Gothamites to an array of alternatives — some of which are capitalizing on the epic traffic jams with limited-time deals.
Among the proposed gridlock cures are Citi Bike, which is offering 50 percent off three-day passes, and ride-sharing, with service Via also ponying up half-off discounts for its carpool services within Manhattan.
As the city outside grinds to a halt, Trump has a packed schedule ahead of him.
At 8:15 a.m. Monday, the president will take part in a global panel on the international scourge of drug trafficking, aimed at cutting off narcotics supply chains.
On Tuesday morning, Trump will deliver his address to the General Assembly — a speech that last year featured generous criticism of North Korean despot Kim Jong Un.
And Wednesday, the president will participate in the UN Security Council’s briefing, expected to focus on nuclear nonproliferation. Trump is also slated to meet with several world leaders — including French President Emmanuel Macron and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — and to host multiple events off the UN campus before departing for Washington on Thursday.
