周六晚上，曼哈顿下城下起了小雨，曼哈顿刑事法院街对面的一群人拉上了帐篷的拉链，抓起了睡袋。
他们提前几个小时到达，当地人和游客混杂在一起，希望为唐纳德·特朗普赢得法庭内为数不多的公众席位之一刑事审判.
与纽约其他热门门票不同——观看尼克斯队季后赛或扬基体育场本垒板后的场边座位——前总统特朗普历史性审判的座位对公众免费开放，只要他们足够早到场。
周六早上6点，西切斯特居民蒂娜·约翰逊(Tina Johnson)开始排队。她过去曾试图进入法庭，但因为来得太晚而失败。她开始列一份非正式清单，并在Collect Pond公园郊区的长椅上露营。周六中午，她身后慢慢排起了长队。
周一的证词包括迈克尔·科恩最后一次出庭作证，以及川普可能为自己辩护作证，这使得周一的排队时间比庭审的其他任何一天都早。特朗普因涉嫌伪造商业记录以隐瞒他当时的律师迈克尔·科恩向一名成人电影女演员支付的封口费款项的报销而受到审判斯托米·丹尼尔斯为了提高特朗普在2016年总统大选中的选举前景。前总统否认了所有不当行为。
“随着案件的进展，人们似乎越来越早地来到这里，”理查德·帕廷顿说，他于周六上午9点到达，希望能获得一个难得的法庭席位。
在过去的四周里，数百名纽约人和游客涌入这场历史性的审判，只为一睹川普以及斯托米·丹尼尔斯和迈克尔·科恩等证人的风采。两周前，在丹尼尔斯恢复交叉询问之前，公众排队大约在午夜开始，而在科恩周一出庭作证之前，公众排队从上周周日下午开始。上周日——科恩开始作证的前一天——下午早些时候就开始排队了。
“这是正在创造的历史，”迈克尔·鲍尔斯(Michael Powers)说，他在前一天下午2点30分排队后于上周一进入法庭。“这种情况不会经常发生。”
由于公众对此案的极大兴趣，法院官员建立了一个排队系统，在进行诉讼的主法庭和附近的分庭室分配座位，媒体和公众可以在分庭室观看诉讼的视频。每天大约有60名记者在主审判室就座，而审判室的一排座位是留给公众的。
在溢出的房间里，多排座位预留给公众成员——两周前实地考察期间，足够一整个高中班级的学生观看证词。
“我很兴奋地看到科恩受到更多的盘问，他所有的谎言都在法庭和陪审员面前被揭穿了，”约翰逊说，他周四在溢出室观看了诉讼程序，然后在本周获得了第一个在线席位。
在线上的其他人希望从他们的等待时间中赚钱。周六晚上至少有一名在线会员是专业的在线保姆，由一名客户按小时支付费用，在周一早上之前一直在线。
为了忍受天气和漫长的等待，一些人带了帐篷和睡袋——另一些人则用附近的长椅或纸板用被子和棉被临时搭成床。警方至少一夜之间访问了这条线路一次——据帕廷顿说，他们收到了一份关于公园里有无家可归者营地的报告——但在意识到这只是特朗普审判的线路后迅速离开了。
来自布鲁克林的大学生米利亚娜周六在帐篷里露宿。她说，她不确定自己是否会在周一之前进入法院或出售自己的座位，她过去曾在网上以300多美元的价格出售过自己的座位。
“我不会接受低于800美元的任何东西，”米利亚娜告诉美国广播公司新闻。“如果有人出价低于800美元，我会走进法庭亲自体验。”
约翰·麦金托什(John McIntosh)自称是“停车海盗”，过去一直以囤积和出售炮台公园市的路边停车位为生。他出席了庭审，并表示愿意出售自己的座位。
麦金托什说:“我只想亲眼看看。
约翰逊说，为了打发等待周一恢复审判的时间，她在曼哈顿市中心走了一圈，在附近的星巴克和麦当劳停下来上厕所和给手机充电，并在网上与其他人聊起了这个案件。
“我肯定会投票认为特朗普是绝对无辜的，”约翰逊说，他不同意帕廷顿的观点，帕廷顿落后她两位。
帕廷顿说:“我认为检方的理由非常充分。“我会站在特朗普一边。”
这种分歧似乎并没有困扰他们太多，因为他们在周六晚上聊起了他们进入法院前的36个小时。
约翰逊说:“你仍然可以同意在事情上有不同意见，并喜欢对方。
Meet some of the New Yorkers waiting overnight to get a seat at the Trump trial
As a light rain began to fall on lower Manhattan Saturday night, a group of people across the street from the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse zipped up their tents and clutched their sleeping bags.
They arrived hours earlier, an eclectic mix of locals and tourists hoping to score one of the few public seats inside the courtroom for Donald Trump’scriminal trial.
Unlike other hot tickets in New York – courtside seats to see the Knicks in the playoffs or behind home plate at Yankee Stadium – a seat inside the historic trial of former President Trump is free for the public, as long as they show up early enough.
The line began to form at 6 a.m. Saturday morning with Tina Johnson, a Westchester resident whose past attempts to get in the courtroom failed when she arrived too late. She began an informal list and camped out on a bench on the outskirts of Collect Pond Park. By noon on Saturday, a line slowly formed behind her.
Monday’s testimony includes the final appearance of Michael Cohen on the witness stand as well as the possibility of Trump testifying in his own defense, contributing to Monday’s line forming earlier than any other day of the trial. Trump is on trial for allegedly falsifying business records to hide the reimbursement of a hush money payment that his then-attorney, Michael Cohen, made to adult film actressStormy Danielsin order to boost Trump's electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election. The former president has denied all wrongdoing.
"It seems as though as the case progresses people get here earlier and earlier," said Richard Partington, who arrived at 9 a.m. on Saturday to hopefully secure a rare courtroom seat.
Over the last four weeks, hundreds of New Yorkers and tourists have flocked to the historic trial to catch a glimpse of Trump and witnesses like Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen. The line for the public began around midnight before Daniels resumed her cross examination two weeks ago, while the line began on Sunday afternoon last week before Cohen took the stand on Monday. Last Sunday – the day before Cohen began his testimony – the line began in the early afternoon.
"It's history in the making," said Michael Powers, who made it into the courtroom last Monday after joining the line at 2:30 p.m. the day before. "This isn't going to happen very often."
With the immense public interest in the case, court officials have established a system of lines to allocate seats in both the main courtroom where the proceedings take place and a nearby overflow room where the press and public can watch a video feed of the proceedings. Approximately 60 members of the press get a seat in the main courtroom each day, while one row of seats in the courtroom is reserved for the public.
In the overflow room, multiple rows of seats are reserved for members of the public – enough room for an entire class of high school students to watch the testimony during a field trip two weeks ago.
"I'm excited to see Cohen being grilled a little more, all his lies being unraveled before the court and before the jurors," said Johnson, who watched the proceedings from the overflow room on Thursday before securing the first spot on the line this week.
Others on the line hope to make money from their time waiting. At least one member of the line on Saturday night was a professional line sitter, paid an hourly rate by a client to hold the spot on line until Monday morning.
To bear the weather and lengthy wait, some brought tents and sleeping bags – others used nearby benches or sheets of cardboard to make impromptu beds with quilts and comforters. The police visited the line at least once overnight – according to Partington they had received a report of a homeless encampment in the park – but quickly left after realizing it was just the line for the Trump trial.
Milliana – a college student from Brooklyn who camped out on Saturday in a tent – said she was unsure if she would enter the courthouse or sell her seat by Monday, having sold her spot on line for more than $300 in the past.
"I am not taking anything less than $800," Milliana told ABC News. "If anyone offers less than $800, I will go inside that courtroom and experience that myself."
John McIntosh – a self-described "parking pirate" who use to make a living by hoarding and selling his streetside parking spot in Battery Park City – has both attended the trial and offered to sell his seat.
"I just want to see it from my own two eyes," McIntosh said.
To pass the time waiting for the trial to resume on Monday, Johnson said she walked around downtown Manhattan, stopped by nearby Starbucks and McDonald's locations to use the bathroom and charge her phone, and chatted about the case with others on the line.
"I would definitely vote that Trump is absolutely innocent," Johnson said, disagreeing with Partington who is two spots behind her.
"I think the prosecution had a very strong case," Partington said. "I would side against Trump."
The disagreement didn’t seem to bother them much, as they chatted on Saturday evening about the 36 hours left before they could enter the courthouse.
"You can still agree to disagree on things and like each other," Johnson said.
