Tighter UN Security and a False Alarm Snarl Midtown Traffic as General Assembly Opens

The annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations opened in New York on Tuesday against a backdrop of heavier security and traffic disruption across Midtown Manhattan.

For the first time, UN security required all staff members and lower-ranking diplomats to have their belongings scanned before entering the headquarters complex. The measure appeared to be a response to escalating threats.

The change ran into immediate logistical trouble. Only two scanners were available at the staff entrance for the hundreds of people seeking to enter between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m., when the meeting began. The result was long delays, with some of those waiting visibly frantic as the session got under way.

Outside, motorcades carrying presidents, prime ministers and monarchs to the building were given priority on nearby streets, and traffic frequently came to a standstill.

First Avenue, which runs uptown alongside the UN complex, was closed to ordinary traffic, with only motorcades permitted through. Many vehicles heading uptown diverted to Third Avenue, the nearest parallel route.

That street was also shut down in the mid-afternoon after a report of a suspicious package. Police said they received a call around 3 p.m. about an object near East 43rd Street and Third Avenue, prompting a response from the bomb squad and other officers. The object turned out to be harmless, but the closure compounded congestion for New Yorkers well beyond the UN campus.