New York hasn't lost any of its legendary pulse: its police were put on "alert" ahead of former US President Donald Trump 's appearance in court Tuesday to tell him he's been charged with a crime over paying a porn star to buy her silence.

And the New York City police, which includes 36,000 policemen and 19,000 civilians, ordered all its members and officers to spread out in their uniforms on public roads for a week, according to police sources who spoke to NBC.

In response to questions from AFP, a New York Police Department spokesman said via email that "the officers have been put on alert and the agency remains ready to respond, if necessary, and will ensure that everyone can exercise their right in a peaceful manner."

"But at the present time there are no credible threats," added a police spokesman for the city, which has a history of violence.

In Manhattan, the number of pro- or anti-Trump demonstrators did not exceed dozens. A number of his opponents concentrated in front of Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in New York and raised a banner that read, "Arrest Trump."

And that while another person was walking in the vicinity of the tower, carrying two banners that read, "Imprison him ... and throw away the key."

A third person also stated that "no one is above the law".

Then in this vibrant neighborhood in the heart of Manhattan, Neil Greenfield was taking pictures with Trump supporters who unfurled a banner about the 2024 presidential election.

After being shocked by the indictment, which was announced Thursday evening in a historic precedent, the former president intends to "fight" to the end in order to drop the prosecutions launched against him by Manhattan prosecutor Alvin Bragg, according to what his client, Joseph Takopina, said.

Trump, who lives in Florida, will appear Tuesday in a Manhattan court to be formally informed of the charges related to the $130,000 payment at the end of 2016 to pornographic film actress Stormy Daniels to buy her silence.

Trump supporters, including Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, plan to demonstrate Tuesday in front of the courthouse during his appearance.
Susan, who refuses to give her full name, says she is "ashamed of the judiciary in America." And she adds in court that what Trump did was "a simple misdemeanor, not a crime. This is absurd."

In front of the Palace of Justice, which was placed under strict protection ten days ago by New York police and judicial police, Mary Fish, 50, expresses her regret for "the path that America has taken," which is "not a path that leads to peace or unity."

But this woman, who did not reveal her profession, accuses Donald Trump, who overturned the measures of the political system and the balance of power in the United States, of being the "cause of divisions" in the country.

Pilar Banos, a 72-year-old Spanish tourist visiting Manhattan, believes that the criminal prosecution of a former US president creates a "strange" atmosphere in the city.

Trump, who aspires to return to the White House, denounced the "false and shameful" accusation, which he considered to have been orchestrated by the Democrats before the presidential campaign.

The billionaire, who has caused a coup since 2015 in the political system in the United States, resorted to his social network "Truth Social" to denounce his opponents and wrote, "They are pursuing me in a weak and shameful way because they know that I am on the side of the American people and that I cannot get a fair trial in New York." The majority of which he hails from.