City leaders gathered ahead of planned "No Kings Day" protests across the city on Saturday to detail their response plan - and deliver a warning to those who are looking to be violent or destroy property.
"While we always respect and protect the right to peaceful protest, there would be zero, zero tolerance for crime blocking traffic, graffiti or disorderly behavior," said Mayor Eric Adams.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said thousands of officers will be on hand at protests across the city and the departments joint operations center will be activated Saturday morning to coordinate their response.
'No Kings Day' protests will happen across the country Saturday.
According to organizers, the day of action is a "day of defiance" to reject authoritarianism and stand for democracy while countering President Donald Trump's military parade happening in Washington, DC, on the same day.
Mayor Adams said he believes protests in the city will be mostly peaceful but worries about "outside agitators" who he said have sparked violence and destruction at past protests.
"They start throwing items at the police, start doing things to get the police agitated," the mayor said. "They use fire bombs to burn cars, we saw that during the BLM movement."
Commissioner Tisch said if protesters see anyone destroying property or being violent, they should not join them.