officers from the nypd anti-terror unit patrol times square. | ap photo/bebeto matthews by laura nahmias 11/07/16 11:52 am est mayor bill de blasio and the new york police department are mounting an unprecedented security campaign in advance of tomorrow's presidential election. the city faces non-specific terror threats from isis and al qaeda, in addition to potentially record-breaking voter turnout, and the presence of both major party candidates in manhattan on election night for the first time in over 70 years. story continued below "we know that the eyes of the world will be on new york city," de blasio said monday, at a press conference in times square, citing an "obligation" to ensure the elections go smoothly. "new york city will never be intimidated, never by threats of terror, or by anyone who wants to do anything to disrupt our electoral process," de blasio said. to that end, the nypd will be deploying more than 5,000 uniformed officers, who will be assigned to various types of election duty, nypd chief of department carlos gomez said. it will be "by far the largest election detail that the nypd has ever had," gomez said, more than double the previous record detail for a presidential election. the number of officers on city streets will be comparable to the size of the force deployed for new year's eve, and the number of officers present on city streets last fall, when a visit to new york city by pope francis coincided with the united nations general assembly. the nypd will be staffing a joint operations command center with representatives from more than 50 different state and federal agencies at one police plaza downtown, to oversee the events. and nypd officers will be present at each of the more than 1,200 polling sites located in new york city's five boroughs, most of them inside new york city public schools and new york city housing authority buildings. new york city is home to more than 4.5 million registered voters, and the city expects turnout to be high. de blasio said the city would brook no voter intimidation, and is deploying a massive force to help protect new yorkers' franchise rights, and the democratic process on tuesday. "it is our sacred obligation to protect that process, to make sure that democracy unfolds as it<u+2019>s meant to be," de blasio said. the city's polls open at 6 a.m. and close at 9 p.m., and in addition to the uniformed officers present at each of the city's polling sites, there will be staff from the city's board of elections, nypd supervisors, and attorneys from the nypd's legal bureau present to assist in the event of any reports of voter intimidation or electioneering. the department, which has received nonspecific threats of potential terrorism from al qaeda in recent days, and another broad call to attack voters spread by members of the islamic state on social media, is taking no chances. on tuesday, new yorkers can expect to see counterrorism teams, heavy weapons officers and elite emergency services units on city streets in full force, as well as every canine member of the department's explosive-detecting teams. both hillary clinton and donald trump are holding their election night events within a mile of each other.<u+00a0>clinton has planned a party at the javits center, while trump's event will be located at the midtown hilton hotel. street closures related to the events will begin this afternoon, when the nypd will begin limiting access to 11th avenue between 34th and 40th street. by early tuesday morning, 11th avenue between 34th and 40th streets will be entirely closed to traffic. fifty-third and 54th streets between 6th and 7th avenues, surrounding the midtown hilton, will also be closed. other street closures include fifth avenue between 54th and 59th streets, and sixth avenue, from 42nd to 54th streets. police plan to cut off access to the streets around trump tower and the peninsula hotel tomorrow too. "we have a very robust plan in place to secure the two events that the secret service will be involved in," said dave beach, the special agent in charge of new york's secret service office. "we are very confident that both events will go off without a hitch," he said. nypd officials said that fireworks clinton's campaign had planned to set off on a barge over the hudson river, in the event of a victory, have been canceled, and no permit had been issued for them. nypd commissioner james o'neill, who is new in the position this year, said that despite tomorrow's busy schedule, he still plans to vote. "of course," he said, when asked if he plans to cast a ballot. "that's our civic duty." de blasio, who plans to vote tuesday in park slope, said that new yorkers should, above all, feel comfortable exercising their right to vote. "it<u+2019>s been a tough election year, we all know this," he added, saying that 2016 had been "a challenging and painful year." "it<u+2019>s strained our democracy," he said. "bottom line for all new yorkers is, expect to see a lot of nypd presence today and tomorrow. know that you are safe and well-protected." "we are a society that honors democracy, that honors freedom, that honors inclusivity. we are a society that believes that people of all backgrounds can work together," de blasio said. "we<u+2019>re going to prove it over the next 24 hours in new york city." a free synopsis of our pro morning email about new york education policy and politics a free synopsis of our pro morning email about new york energy policy and politics a free synopsis of our pro morning email about new york health care policy and politics a free synopsis of our pro morning email about new york real estate policy and politics our morning email with must-read analysis and breaking news on state news and politics a morning email with must-read analysis and breaking news on city news and politics. a weekly round-up of legislation in city council for politics and policy professionals. a reported briefing on money in politics, executive moves, and trends in communications, lobbying and consulting. our twice-a-week digest of news on courts and the law in new york azi paybarah and jimmy vielkind's must-read briefing informing the daily conversation among knowledgeable new yorkers.
city plans unprecedented security operation for election day
laura nahmias