The 50th TCS New York City Marathon will be held Sunday, Nov. 1, and the upper level of the Verrazzano Bridge will close starting at 11 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said bridges and roads will be closed in stages, causing heavy traffic delays, and urged people to use public transportation. Bags will be checked near the finish line, and coolers, umbrellas, chairs and large backpacks are prohibited.
According to Gothamist, the 50th New York City Marathon will be held Sunday, Nov. 1, and the upper level of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge will close first, at 11 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31. NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said streets and bridges will be closed in sequence on race day, causing severe traffic congestion, and urged residents and visitors to take public transportation.
Based on Commissioner Tisch's remarks, the bridge closure times as of the morning of Sunday, Nov. 1, are as follows. The lower level of the Verrazzano Bridge closes at 7 a.m., the Queensboro Bridge at 6:30 a.m. and the Pulaski Bridge at 7:15 a.m. The Willis Avenue Bridge and the Madison Avenue Bridge close at 7:30 a.m. All bridges will reopen after the last runner has passed; the original report did not give specific reopening times.
The course starts on Staten Island, crosses the Verrazzano Bridge into Brooklyn and passes through Sunset Park, Park Slope and Williamsburg. It then enters Manhattan via the Queensboro Bridge, runs through the Upper East Side, briefly passes through the South Bronx and ends at the finish line in Central Park. The total distance is 26.2 miles (about 42 kilometers). According to the organizer, New York Road Runners, more than 60,000 runners are participating, including more than 29,000 New York residents and about 18,600 first-time marathoners. City officials expect about 2.5 million spectators from around the world.
Commissioner Tisch said there are no known specific, credible threats, but that thousands of police officers will be deployed along the route, with special units operating on the ground, in the harbor and in the air. Vehicle barriers will block access to crowded areas, and an intelligence team will monitor live cameras across the five boroughs. Bags will be checked near the finish line, and coolers, umbrellas, chairs and large backpacks are not allowed. Unauthorized drones are also banned on race day, and police will deploy a drone response team throughout the day.