U.S. Secret Service’s next challenge: protect 140 visiting world leaders next week

“One of the most important things is bringing all of them in here and then departing safely," Freaney said. "Think about that logistically."

Below United Nations headquarters, a state-of-the-art security post dubbed the “Brain Center” hums with activity on the eve of next week’s high-level meeting of the U.N. General Assembly. The annual diplomatic pilgrimage is bringing more than 140 world leaders to New York City, including the leaders of Israel, the Palestinians and Ukraine.

Keeping them safe is the U.S. Secret Service’s next big challenge.

The agency, under a cloud after a July assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, is confident in its multi-layer, multi-agency plan to protect the U.N. General Assembly, which is deemed a Super Bowl-level National Special Security Event.

The plan — developed with New York City police and the U.N. Security and Safety Service, among other agencies — includes not just motorcades and protective details, but NYPD helicopters and patrol boats, a dozen U.N. security K-9 teams sweeping for explosives, road closures and traffic diversions. The Secret Service is bringing in agents from posts around the world for the event. The Coast Guard is restricting East River access near the U.N. and the Federal Aviation Administration is closing airspace.

With so many presidents, prime ministers, monarchs and others dignitaries in one city and under one roof at the same time, the U.N. General Assembly is actually bigger than the Super Bowl. It’s the most complex event the Secret Service is involved in each year.

This year, it’s coming during a especially busy stretch highlighted by the Republican and Democratic conventions and the final weeks of the presidential campaign. Speaking Monday after the Secret Service thwarted another apparent assassination attempt on Trump in Florida, Acting Director Ronald L. Rowe Jr. said employees were “redlining” like an engine pushed to its limit. But, he said, “they are rising to this moment” and meeting the challenges.

“The operational tempo is incredibly high,” said Patrick Freaney, the special agent in charge of the Secret Service’s New York field office.

The Associated Press got a rare look inside security preparations for the U.N. General Assembly, known as UNGA, including the “Brain Center” and a joint operations center that lets the Secret Service, NYPD and other agencies communicate instantly to root out threats and logistical snags. They’re also coordinating with the foreign security services that protect each of the dignitaries.