Taylor Swift is set to have her wedding at Madison Square Garden in what promises to be a multi-day event. While it is a happy time for Swift and Travis Kelce, the NYPD is less thrilled about the whole thing.
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The wedding will require a police presence with 130 to 200 police officers providing security for the event. It comes as the department is already stretched thin with the World Cup in full swing. Speaking with US Sun, Sal Lifrieri, a 20-year veteran, called the wedding "selfish."
"City resources are pushed to the limit as it is," Lifrieri, the president of Protective Countermeasures, said. "I don't think they're recognizing the potential impact that they're going to have. You've got the Fourth of July celebrations going on with fireworks, demonstrations, and parties that are going on."
Taylor Swift Called Out
He also continued, "The amount of officers and first response capability is really stretched. These guys are working 12-hour shifts, 7 days a week. You start crowding streets and causing traffic jams like that, you're impacting people just unnecessarily. On a weekend that's ridiculous. I think it's incredibly selfish and self-serving."
Meanwhile, Kenneth Corey, the former chief of department at the NYPD, had a more dire warning for the couple. He said the wedding is "a very attractive terrorist target."
Lifrieri criticized Swift, calling her not "the president."
"Handling the crowd control issues, and where do you put these people, and how do you maintain the capabilities and the response," Lifrieri added. "I mean, if your mother was having a heart attack, and you couldn't get an ambulance for a half hour because there was no way to get through the crowds, you'd be really upset about that."
He also weighed in on the venue choice.
"From a logistics standpoint, there's nothing like Madison Square Garden. Madison Square Garden has phenomenal security. An event like this is small compared to what they normally handle. So, as far as venue is concerned, there's not many theaters that are going to be able to handle that, or venues that are able to handle that many people. In that regard, it's the ideal venue. And from the Garden's perspective, the capability that they have to provide security is excellent."
Meanwhile, Scott Munro, the president of the city's detectives union, also called out Swift.
"They should have their wedding in Pennsylvania or wherever she's from," Munro said.
