The Knicks won in five, the FIFA World Cup is in full swing and now America’s equivalent of a royal couple appears ready to celebrate their wedding in the heart of New York, adding to the city’s summer of good vibes and celebrations. New York officials are preparing the city for Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, who are expected to host a celebrity-studded event on July 3 at Madison Square Garden with about 1,000 guests, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the details are private. The security deployment for the two-day event is on par with a regular-season sporting event, and comes during a long weekend that already carries heightened precautions for the Fourth of July and the country’s 250th anniversary. The billionaire pop star and the three-time Super Bowl winner have stayed mum, keeping any wedding plans shrouded in mystery since announcing their engagement in August. The vacuum has left news outlets, social media and Swifties scrambling for the tiniest of details on their plans. Representatives for Swift didn’t respond to requests for comment. The celebrations will start with a smaller, 100-guest rehearsal dinner Thursday evening on the floor of Madison Square Garden’s Infosys theater, the people familiar with the matter said. The next day, the festivities begin with a cocktail hour on the sixth-floor concourse of the World’s Most Famous Arena. The ceremony is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on the arena floor, followed by a reception starting at 6:30 p.m. that is expected to run until 2 a.m., the people said. Plans call for guests to be dropped off inside a large tent that will shield arrivals from public view, with roughly 500 vehicles expected to pass through before leaving the area. The couple’s chosen venue is the regular home of the New York Knicks, which just last month won their first NBA title in 53 years. The historic championship brought a sense of jubilation to the city, with lifelong supporters and newly converted fans rallying together to cheer on the team in bars, restaurants and on the streets. Even Swift attended a game at the Garden, sporting a “Stevie Knicks” T-shirt courtside. As the series wrapped up, the World Cup also began. Tourists and residents alike are regularly sporting their nations’ jerseys, and many have headed across the river to New York New Jersey Stadium for matches, the next of which will kick off on July 5. Photographers and onlookers this week have captured glimpses of preparations at the Garden, including the unloading of a piano and what appeared to be a staircase. Photos of the installation (and quick removal) of a red carpet spread online. Speculation about the Garden as the venue for the nuptials has drawn some skepticism given the venue’s lack of ambiance and flair, particularly according to some Swift fans who expected the singer to go for a more romantic locale. But what the Garden clearly provides is privacy: There are no windows for voyeurs and cameras to catch a glimpse, there’s no outdoor view for hovering helicopters, and there’s a discreet entrance to the massive arena frequently used by black-car-escorted celebrity guests. And, with the power couple’s means, the space inside can be completely transformed. Kelce signed a three-year extension with the Kansas City Chiefs this year that carries a maximum value of US$57.7 million, putting him in position to become the highest-paid tight end in the league based on average annual value. Swift’s Eras concert tour sold more than 10 million tickets and was the most successful in history, grossing more than US$2 billion. The scale of this week’s event will be reflected in the size of the deployment from the New York Police Department. Nearly 140 uniformed members have been assigned to security for the event, working overtime tours running from roughly 2 p.m. into the evening. The deployment is being staffed under a Special Access Permit, a designation NYPD uses for privately organized events at venues like the Garden. Under those rules, permit holders are typically billed for police overtime costs associated with their event. But according to the records reviewed, only 25 per cent of the overtime tied to the event is being charged to the wedding party, with the remaining 75 per cent treated the same way the NYPD would handle a routine commercial event at the arena, such as a Knicks game. Why EV investors are tracking Taylor Swift and swing state pollsThe CRA wants to know if you profited from reselling those Taylor Swift tickets The New York Post and TMZ were first to report that the Garden would host the pair’s wedding reception, and the New York Times reported on details of the police preparation and schedule. With assistance from Samuel A. Church Bloomberg.com
New York’s summer of fun looks set to add Taylor Swift’s wedding
