World leaders gather in NYC for UN General Assembly: What to know

UNITED NATIONS (AP) – Dozens of world leaders have gathered in New York City for the United Nations General Assembly. 

Here’s what you need to know:

JUMP TO: ROAD CLOSURES | NYC TRAFFIC MAP | SECURITY | “PACT OF THE FUTURE” | BIGGEST NIGHT OF THE YEAR 

Starting Sunday, New Yorkers can expect road closures that will significantly affect traffic. Gridlock traffic will likely consume much of Midtown.

Streets affected include:

• 1st Avenue from 34th to 51st Streets
• 42nd Street from 2nd to 1st Avenue
• Portions of 44th, 46th, and 48th Streets from 2nd to 1st Avenue

While officials have confirmed there are no credible threats at this time, law enforcement remains on high alert to ensure the safety of foreign dignitaries, New Yorkers, and visitors.

Visible security measures, including canine units, aviation patrols, and water security, will be deployed throughout the city, particularly around the UN headquarters on First Avenue. However, many security tactics will remain behind the scenes, with diplomatic security personnel monitoring every move.

“This is the largest annual gathering of global leaders on the planet,” said Patrick Freaney, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service’s New York Field Office. “Given the enormity of this event, the Department of Homeland Security has given it the designation of a national security event.”

This year, protests over the Israel-Hamas war are an expected concern for the NYPD, who say that violence and vandalism will not be tolerated. 

Authorities say the goal is to be ready for any and everything. 

The U.N. General Assembly has approved a blueprint to bring the world’s increasingly divided nations together to tackle 21st-century challenges. 

Those range from climate change and artificial intelligence to escalating conflicts and increasing inequality and poverty. 

The 42-page “Pact of the Future” challenges leaders of the 193 U.N. member nations to turn promises into real actions that make a difference to the lives of the world’s more than 8 billion people. 

The pact was adopted at the opening of the two-day “Summit of the Future” called by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. 

He said the group was gathered to, as he put it, “bring multilateralism back from the brink.”

The summit is the prelude to this year’s high-level meeting, held every September. More than 130 presidents, prime ministers and monarchs are slated to speak along with dozens of ministers, and the issues from the summit are expected to dominate their speeches and private meetings, especially the wars in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan and the growing possibility of a wider Mideast war.

“There is going to be a rather obvious gap between the Summit of the Future, with its focus on expanding international cooperation, and the reality that the U.N. is failing in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan,” said Richard Gowan, U.N. director for the International Crisis Group. “Those three wars will be top topics of attention for most of the week.”

One notable moment at Tuesday’s opening assembly meeting: U.S. President Joe Biden’s likely final major appearance on the world stage, a platform he has tread upon and reveled in for decades.

At the upcoming meetings, U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters this week: “The most vulnerable around the world are counting on us to make progress, to make change, to bring about a sense of hope for them.”

To meet the many global challenges, she said, the U.S. focus at the U.N. meetings will be on ending “the scourge of war.” Roughly 2 billion people live in conflict-affected areas, she said.

Last September, the war in Ukraine and its president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, took center stage at the U.N. global gathering. But as the first anniversary of Hamas’ deadly attack in southern Israel approaches on Oct. 7, the spotlight is certain to be on the war in Gaza and escalating violence across the Israeli-Lebanon border, which is now threatening to spread to the wider Middle East.

Iran supports both Hamas in Gaza and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militants. Its new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, will address world leaders on Tuesday afternoon. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled to speak Thursday morning and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday afternoon.

Zelenskyy will get the spotlight twice. He will speak Tuesday at a high-level meeting of the U.N. Security Council — called by the United States, France, Japan, Malta, South Korea and Britain — and will address the General Assembly on Wednesday morning.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.