It’s that time of the year again, the beginning of United Nations General Assembly week with extra security precautions in effect for NYC.

For Roosevelt Island, there will be intermittent closings of the Roosevelt Island bridge as East River traffic is diverted from the West Channel to the East Channel and Coast Guard Gunboats are patrolling the East River near Roosevelt Island.

According to the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC):

2024 U.N. General Assembly | R.I. Bridge Operations

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) will take place from Sunday, September 22nd through Saturday, September 28th. Due to necessary changes in marine traffic, during this time, the Roosevelt Island Bridge will open on demand from 6 AM to 8 PM. Please be advised that each opening should take anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes to be completed.

As a reminder, during the opening and lowering of the Roosevelt Island Bridge, some delays may occur. Please keep this in mind when planning your vehicular travel next week.

Roosevelt Island residents have expressed concern about the Roosevelt Island Bridge being closed preventing emergency vehicles such as ambulances and fire trucks from getting on and off Roosevelt Island.

RIOC Public Safety Department Chief Kevin Brown tried to lessen those concerns by reporting during the September 19, Community Engagement meeting that an EMS ambulance truck, FDNY and NYPD personnel will be stationed on Roosevelt Island during UN General Assembly Week. Chief Brown said the bridge could open and close 10-15 times a day this week. Here’s what he said.

As reported in prior years during the UN General Assembly Week, here’s the:

… View of raised Roosevelt Island Bridge from passing sailboat on East River east
channel…

and the Roosevelt Island Bridge being lowered:

… after sailboat passed underneath. It took about 4 1/2 minutes for the
Bridge to be lowered into place and traffic to proceed. The video is at double
speed taking a little bit more than 2 minutes….

and traffic jam on the Roosevelt Island Bridge

waiting for it to reopen as a sailboat passes underneath.