President Trump’s homecoming next week will create a traffic apocalypse in the Big Apple — and officials are warning drivers to stay off the road.
The president addressed the “disruption” his visit might cause on Friday while at his golf club in Bedminster, NJ, where he has spent most of his 17-day “working vacation.”
“I stay out of Manhattan because it’s so disruptive to go to Manhattan,” Trump said. “Whenever a president came in, it was very disruptive — and I think I’m probably more disruptive than any of them.”
Air Force One will arrive Monday night at JFK Airport from Washington D.C. after Trump attends a “very important meeting.”
A motorcade will then take the president the 16 miles to Trump Tower, where he has yet to step foot since taking office, sources said.
Fifth Avenue will remain open to traffic during Trump’s stay, but the area around the skyscraper will be under heavy security from the NYPD and Secret Service.
Trucks traveling along East 56th Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues will be checked at Sixth Avenue by federal agents with bomb-sniffing dogs. Some side streets will also be closed for the duration of Trump’s visit.
Snipers and arrest teams will also be on standby, sources said.
Opponents of the president’s immigration policies are planning to protest outside Trump Tower on Tuesday, and another rally in support of saving health care is scheduled for Sunday evening.
Trump has visited his hometown of New York only once since he was inaugurated — for a May event on the Intrepid.
He plans to spend Tuesday holed up at the Fifth Avenue tower for meetings. On Wednesday, he will depart again for Bedminster to see out the rest of his vacation.
Mayor de Blasio warned motorists to stay clear of the area around Trump Tower.
“If he doesn’t move around a lot, it particularly makes it a little bit easier,” he said Friday on “The Brian Lehrer Show” on WNYC. “But everything will be under control, but just avoid that part of Midtown for your own sanity would be my case to all New Yorkers.”
Drivers were already griping about the impending gridlock.
“It’s disastrous driving in the city. It’ll be a disaster with him here,” said Wahid Kahn, 34, who lives in Queens. “I might take a day off.”
Additional reporting by Jaclyn Weiner and Lia Eustachewich