Massive security put in place at Trump Tower
NEW YORK (FOX5NY) - A ring of dirt filled dump trucks line Trump Tower on 5th Avenue in Midtown Manhattan now, a visible sign of the temporary security that was quickly assembled after Donald Trump became president elect. Large new concrete barriers have also been deployed in the area. It's an effort to keep a car bomb from entering or damaging the building.
The Trump Tower has always been a draw for crowds of shoppers and tourists, but now it's different. It's home to the man who will become the next president, and that means an unprecedented security overlay of physical barriers, frozen zones, street closures, and many NYPD officers on guard at the building.
It's a huge operation. Heavily armed and specially trained NYPD officers are stationed at the 5th Avenue Atrium entrance, but they're hard to see because of the sanitation dump trucks positioned along the entire front of the building.
Two long blocks of 56th Street have also been closed and are now the staging area for NYPD mobile command posts.
Manny Gomez, a security expert and former FBI special agent says that Trumps penthouse apartment creates security problems.
"The goal here is to have Mr. Trump and his family move to a safer location that is more manageable for the Secret Service and the NYPD to provide protection for them, the president elect, and to let the city continue their everyday flow of traffic."
A two-mile "no-fly-zone" has been established around Trump Tower has been established by the FAA until Inauguration Day on January 20th.