Trump hush money trial tests storied N.Y. courthouse like never before

NEW YORK — The courthouse’s 15th floor is available for only one trial.

All judges except New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan must work elsewhere for now. An organization that intervenes in the lives of youths caught up in the justice system has relocated temporarily to spaces off-site.

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Those and other special conditions are in place at the Manhattan courthouse where Donald Trump’s criminal trial began this week, the first prosecution of a former U.S. president. The trial and the related unusual adjustments may last six to eight weeks.

So far, the scene in and around 100 Centre Street, the main criminal courts building, has been a spectacle, to say the least.

Security has consumed the area with pedestrian and traffic blockades. On Monday, a MAGA rally and hordes of reporters occupied the park across the street where court employees have lunch on nice days.

In that same park Friday, a man set himself on fire in what police believe was a political statement that did not appear to be directly connected to the trial. He was hospitalized in critical condition.

Court officers and police teams in tactical gear descended on the street, and pedestrians were blocked from a main courthouse entryway.

Many attorneys and others dread the roadblocks and extra hassle that can accompany big courthouse events and make it harder for anyone to get to where they need to go.

“Whenever anything big is in the courthouse, it’s annoying,” said defense lawyer Norman Williams, who is not involved in the Trump case.