NYPD ramping up deployments, launching ‘two major security operations’ — focused on 9/11 ceremonies, Rosh Hashanah

More NYPD cops will be on the streets Friday than for any other 9/11 anniversary due to the ongoing war with Iran, and as the memorial coincides with the Jewish New Year, police officials said Wednesday.

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The police department will launch the “heightened security measures” in the hours before the annual Ground Zero ceremony, while a second operation will focus on patrolling synagogues throughout the five boroughs as Jewish New Yorkers celebrate Rosh Hashanah that night, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch announced.

“As you’ve heard me say in preparation for so many events this year, we have amped up or increased our deployments for large events this year, particularly since the start of hostilities in Iran,” Tisch said at a security briefing.

“Our deployment this year at the World Trade Center for 9/11 will be larger than it has been in previous years, as will be our deployment this year for the High Holidays at shuls and yeshivas and Jewish cultural institutions, just based on the reality of the world that we live in today.”

Tisch would not say how many officers will be deployed on Friday, but said the force would be focused on “two major NYPD security operations.”

The first focuses on Lower Manhattan, which Mayor Zohran Mamdani warned would be virtually closed to the public Friday morning as the annual remembrance ceremony at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum takes place. 

Several dignitaries — including Vice President JD Vance and former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama — are expected to be at the service, which will be closed to the general public.

The NYPD’s Counterterrorism Bureau and heavy weapons team will patrol the surrounding area, officials said.

While officials didn’t detail any specific potential threats from Iran, Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counterterrorism Rebecca Weiner said generally that the dangers are “quite different than it was 25 years ago.”

“It’s decentralized geographically with the rise of al-Qaida and ISIS affiliates globally. It’s diversified tremendously ideologically. Now, we’re not primarily dealing with al-Qaida or ISIS, but a proliferation of threats coming from conspiracy theory, nihilistic violence, far-left, far-right, anti-government, all of those things. It’s a much more individualized and idiosyncratic threat, which means that we have to be on our toes,” said Weiner.

A security fence will be installed by the US Secret Service on the east side of West Side Highway from Liberty to Fulton Street, as well as around the perimeter of the 9/11 Memorial site, Tisch said.

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Vehicular traffic will be closed south of Canal Street to Battery Place and from Broadway to West Street starting Friday.

Traffic will be allowed southbound on Broadway, but there will be a ban on all trucks.

The Hugh Carey Tunnel will remain open, with cars being allowed access to the FDR Drive.

The No. 1 train will also bypass the World Trade Center Cortlandt station.

Invited guests permitted to attend the Ground Zero ceremony will need to go through security screening stations.

The Memorial Plaza will reopen to the public around 3 p.m., roughly two hours after the ceremony is expected to conclude.

By that time, the second NYPD operation will already be underway, said Tisch.

Patrols will be increased surrounding Jewish institutions in all five boroughs as Jewish New Yorkers begin Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur celebrations, which begin at sundown.

The increased police presence was propelled by an 8% surge in antisemitic hate crimes so far this year, according to NYPD statistics. Half of the city’s total hate crimes tallied in the first eight months of the year targeted Jewish New Yorkers, Tisch said.

Those “disturbing numbers” include a stabbing this summer outside an Upper West Side synagogue and plots directed at Jewish institutions that were thwarted by the NYPD intelligence team.

“As of today, there are no specific, credible threats directed at High Holy Day celebrations in New York City, but we remain vigilant. There will be assets you see, and others that you don’t,” Tisch said.

“Our intelligence and counterterrorism bureaus are watching here at home and around the world, working closely with federal, state, local and international partners to identify emerging threats and direct resources where they are needed.”

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