Madison Square Garden Bans Bags for Game 3 as Trump Visit Triggers 50,000-fan security lockdown
Updated
Updated · CBS New York · Jun 5
Madison Square Garden Bans Bags for Game 3 as Trump Visit Triggers 50,000-fan security lockdown
3 articles · Updated · CBS New York · Jun 5
Summary
Game 3 at Madison Square Garden will admit only ticketed fans under Secret Service-style screening, with all bags, purses, backpacks and totes banned ahead of Trump's planned attendance Monday.
Hundreds of Secret Service personnel and thousands of NYPD officers are preparing a hard closure around the arena, shutting nearby streets to vehicles and pedestrians and canceling watch parties.
Checkpoints open at 6:30 p.m., two hours before tipoff, with dozens of magnetometers expected to process tens of thousands of attendees at roughly 300 people per hour each.
Penn Station beneath the arena is expected to remain open without service disruptions, even as the security perimeter locks down a busy Midtown Manhattan corridor.
Trump would be the first sitting president to attend an NBA game since 2015, and the visit comes amid heightened scrutiny of presidential security after multiple alleged assassination attempts.