Its. Going. To. Be. Very. Slow.
Gridlock season is upon us. The U.N. General Assembly is in town this week — which always means some of the slowest days of the year for traffic in and around Midtown. But you can expect it to be even slower than normal, with large protests planned every day of the assembly, including but not limited to when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu makes his address Thursday.
A heavy police presence and rolling street closures won’t make things any easier if you’re behind the wheel.
But this is just the start. The city Department of Transportation has identified 20 so-called gridlock days throughout the end of the year, beginning on Monday. More than half are in December, but some of the days leading up to Thanksgiving will be extra-congested as well.
The DOT estimates that during the U.N. General Assembly, traffic around Midtown crawls to less than 4 mph (as opposed to the zippy 4-6 mph Midtown sees the rest of the year). The department will use variable message board systems around the city to warn drivers of expected delays.
The city advises — in general, but especially on gridlock days — to use public transport, bicycle or walk, whenever practical. The DOT says the First Avenue Tunnel protected bike lane, made permanent in 2024, should be helpful, providing a jersey barrier-protected express lane that bypasses many of the busy intersections around the U.N.’s 45th Street headquarters. The DOT said it’s the first tunnel in the United States to be repurposed to allow bike traffic while still maintaining vehicle travel.
The 2026 gridlock days are:
- Monday, Sept. 21
- Tuesday, Sept. 22
- Wednesday, Sept. 23
- Thursday, Sept. 24
- Friday, Sept. 25
- Wednesday, Nov. 18
- Thursday, Nov. 19
- Tuesday, Nov. 24
- Wednesday, Dec. 2
- Thursday, Dec. 3
- Friday, Dec. 4
- Tuesday, Dec. 8
- Wednesday, Dec. 9
- Thursday, Dec. 10
- Friday, Dec. 11
- Tuesday, Dec. 15
- Wednesday, Dec. 16
- Thursday, Dec. 17
- Friday, Dec. 18
- Wednesday, Dec. 23
