Blocks of Midtown shut down Friday for Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s momentous wedding party at Madison Square Garden, angering commuters and some nearby businesses.

Drivers and many pedestrians were blocked from the streets surrounding the arena — and the nation’s largest transit hub Penn Station — by 8:30 a.m., though the NYPD had announced Thursday that the closures would begin at 1 p.m.

“All these barricades left and right, nowhere to go, all this traffic — it’s way too much,” complained Spencer Luell, 24, who was repeatedly redirected while trying to catch a train to be with family in New Jersey.

Police set up barriers around Madison Square Garden on Friday morning for Taylor Swift’s wedding. Matthew McDermott for NY Post

“They sent me around in circles just to be right back here” where he started, the fed-up commuter huffed. “I’m like, what the f—k?

“[Taylor] needs to take that whole thing somewhere else. Manhattan is not the place for it. She needs to take it far away — on an island or Dubai or on a yacht. This is not the place for it.”

Police sources said the streets were closed early as NYPD officials worried about keeping away a possible flood of Swifties while ensuring safe passage for an anticipated 500 cars bringing the billionaire pop star’s wedding guests to the venue.

By 11 a.m., about 100 police officers were spotted arriving at the Garden, on hand for the nuptials — with the number of road closures comparable to when the United Nations General Assembly takes place in Manhattan.

Fiach Mchugh-Hill, a managing partner at The Rutherford on West 33rd Street, ripped the measures as “overkill.”

“For a private wedding, it’s a very public place,” he told The Post.

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce announced their engagement in April 2025. AI image generated by Adobe Firefly

“Yes, they’re getting privacy, but there’s a lot of obstacles being thrown in the way and then you couldn’t think of a busier place, possibly in the world to host your wedding.”

He rejected the notion hordes of Swifties could gather around MSG for the wedding bash, considering the triple-digit temps.

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“I’ve yet to meet a Swiftie, so I think that’s a pretty good indicator of what’s to come. I don’t believe for a second that there’s going to be thousands of Swifties descended on Madison Square Garden, come 4 o’clock today,” Mchugh-Hill insisted. “Prove me wrong.”

By 3 p.m. — as temperatures reached a scorching 100 degrees — a few dozen Swift fans had gravitated to MSG.

Temperatures in New York City could hit triple digits again on Friday. AP Photo/Ryan Murphy

The NYPD said Thursday that West 31-33rd Streets between Sixth and Seventh Avenues would be closed to vehicular traffic, as well as West 31st Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues and Seventh Avenue from 30th to 34th Street.

The West side of Seventh Avenue between 31st and 34th Street was closed to pedestrian traffic, as was West 33rd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, the NYPD said. Some of the streets would have security-controlled access, cops said.

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Difficulty navigating the area, including access to Penn Station, caused some “Bad Blood” for New Yorkers. 

“This is a metropolitan area with over 8 million people — and a pop singer can orchestrate this whole thing.? You don’t think that’s insane?” a public relations worker, who gave her name as Judy, seethed — saying she biked up from downtown to meet a friend and faced a nightmare trying to get to the train hub.

New Yorkers use a fire hydrant to cool off from the record-setting heat in New York City. AFP via Getty Images

“For a pop singer’s wedding? I don’t understand it.  I mean, it’s just unreal.”

Swift kicked off her two-day wedding bonanza with a rehearsal dinner yesterday when temperatures topped 100 degrees in the Big Apple for the first time since 2012.

The extreme heat caused equipment issues for NJ Transit, sparking a commuting nightmare at Penn Station amid a slew of cancellations and hours-long delays. Those delays and cancellations will continue on Friday, the rail line said.

“Due to extreme temperatures, rail service will continue to operate with expected delays and cancellations of select trains through the end of the service day today, Friday, July 3, 2026,” NJ Transit said in a statement.

“NJ TRANSIT recommends customers avoid all non-essential travel.”

A man sits outside Madison Square Garden on Friday, July 3, 2026. Matthew McDermott for NY Post

Long Island Railroad will be operating on a regular schedule, but access will be limited. Passengers are asked to use the 34th Street and 7th Avenue entrance, and the rail line said travelers should consider traveling from Grand Central Terminal or Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn.

The city’s accommodations for Swift’s wedding at the public’s expense also frustrated users online.

“I’m sorry it’s f–king crazy that that billionaire lady is disrupting the busiest rail station in the Western Hemisphere the day before a holiday on a whim,” one person posted on X. “We live in the tackiest second gilded age imaginable.”

“How is Taylor Swift allowed to shut down NYC?” wondered another.

“At least the Empire State Building lovebirds only closed down one block,” one user quipped, referring to the couple that scaled the skyscraper’s spire for a smooch and proposal in a wild stunt.

Friday’s travel woes also come on the eve of New York City’s massive Fourth of July celebration for the country’s 250th birthday as well as the Brazil vs. Norway World Cup match at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Sunday.

— Additional reporting by Joe Marino, Larry Celona and Craig McCarthy