County Promises Large Police Presence For MTV Video Music Awards

MINEOLA, NY — Ahead of 9/11 memorial services and the MTV Video Music Awards on Wednesday, Nassau County officials seek to calm any nerves.

"We just want to assure everybody in the public that [the] Nassau County Police Department is going to be providing the security there and that we are on top of the situation," County Executive Bruce Blakeman said.

Blakeman pointed to the recently held T2 World Cup Cricket matches with more than 150,000 spectators at Eisenhower Park.

"We had three arrests. At a Philadelphia Eagles football game, they have three arrests in every period," Blakeman said.

The county executive said Nassau is prepared to handle the awards show, having hosted everything from presidential debates to major golf tournaments.

"We are used to big events," he said at a Tuesday news conference.

The county is taking extra precautions for the 9/11 anniversary, but Blakeman noted that there are no direct threats to the arena, the event "or anything else in Nassau County."

"We will have a massive amount of police presence that you will see there," Commissioner Patrick Ryder said.

That will include K9 officers. Police will also be positioned at a nearby parking garage and atop the UBS Arena.

"We are taking every precaution to make sure everybody has a great event," Ryder said.

What won't be great, however, is traffic leading up to the show.

"Sometimes on Hempstead Turnpike, it will get pretty congested," he said.

Ryder anticipates the westbound side to get busy, but the eastbound side should not be as crowded.

Despite the video music awards happening on 9/11, Blakeman said the police department will not be stretched too thin.

"We allocate resources based on need," Blakeman said. "There will be no resources that will be removed from any of the precincts. There will be no resources removed from any other special events that there may be."