U.S. Secret Service gears up ahead of United Nations General Assembly

The United Nations General Assembly begins next week in New York City. It's one of the biggest security undertakings in the world. 

Every year, presidents, prime ministers and diplomats from around the world gather for the event. It's the job of the U.S. Secret Service to keep them safe. 

So are there any specific, known threats at this time?

"As far as specific threats to the event here, no. But we are operating in a high threat environment given what's going on globally," said Matthew McCool, special agent in charge of the New York Field Office of the Secret Service. 

Black, armored vehicles are already prepared in Red Hook to pick up the more than 150 foreign dignitaries and their spouses expected to arrive next week. Each is assigned a Secret Service detail for the duration of their trip. All of the vehicles gathered at Red Hook are part of the protective mission. 

"You got the vehicles they ride in, the vehicles we follow behind, and everything in between," Secret Service UNGA transportation supervisor Danny Edwards said. 

Starting on Sunday, every agency working the General Assembly will be monitoring what's happening on the ground in real time at a communication center. When the center's overhead lights are green, things are going well. When the overhead lights switch to red, it indicates a major security incident. 

"We're tracking at least 20 or so protests. The Secret Service fully respects our citizens' right to their First Amendment, and if they're doing it peacefully, we're not going to get involved," McCool said. 

McCool said the Secret Service will have more drones than ever overhead this year and, along with the NYPD, is ready to take down any unauthorized drones over Manhattan. 

"That's one of the threats we're definitely concerned about is people using drones. They impact our security. So we have a robust airspace security plan," McCool said. 

As for traffic, New Yorkers know the General Assembly brings road closures, traffic backups and Gridlock Alert Days. 

"You're going to see perimeters around the U.N. There will be other locations in Manhattan and Midtown, plus Upper East Side. You'll see those perimeters," McCool said. 

Plan accordingly, and use mass transit, officials urge.