United Nations General Assembly to return with epic gridlock

UN dignitaries on COVID merit system

The United Nations General Assembly gathered together Monday for the first time after the event was canceled last year due to COVID. All attendees are on the merit system when it comes to vaccination status.

NEW YORK - Here we go again. Drivers trying to get around Manhattan’s East Side should expect each day to feel like a new, and frustrating, puzzle for the rest of the month.

As the United Nations General Assembly returns to New York, so will epic gridlock.

"The UN General Assembly is the diplomatic security service’s largest protective detail mission of the year," says Keith Byrne, Special Agent in Charge of US Department of State. That’s because more than 100 heads of state, and nearly two dozen foreign ministers are coming to town.

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Stepped-up security will snarl traffic throughout much of the Midtown area.

Starting Monday, multiple closures, detours and checkpoints will be in effect from 6 am - 7 pm from 42nd St to 57th St, between 1st and 5th Avenues.

On 1st Ave, the tunnel underpass from 41st to 48th St. will only be open to passenger cars.

Trucks and other large vehicles will not have access until the end of each day’s session.

CLICK HERE FOR STREET CLOSURES AND TRAFFIC DELAYS

"With all these closures taking place and detours, we're asking the public if you have to be in that area, to take alternate routes of transportation," said NYPD Chief of Transportation Kim Royster.

While security in the city may be at an all-time high, securing proof of vaccination from those in attendance will be far more lenient. A spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General said member-states would abide by an "honor system."

But the first world leader scheduled to speak, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, isn’t vaccinated. In fact, He reiterated that he has no plans to get the shot anytime soon just last week.