Dozens of arrests made at NYU as cops clear protesters’ encampment

Dozens of protesters were arrested Monday night at New York University as police officers cleared out demonstrators who set up tents in a plaza to protest the Israel-Hamas war.

Just before 8:30 p.m., NYPD officers moved in to clear the encampment at Gould Plaza outside the college's Stern School of Business. Police warned protesters they would be arrested if they did not clear the area.

Officers took several people into custody during an evening Maghrib prayer.

Before the plaza was cleared, some protesters sang into a microphone and kneeled to pray, as hundreds of other students and faculty linked arms to create a wall blocking officers from entering the plaza.

Senior NYPD officials arrived on the scene shortly before 9 p.m., including NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry, who heads the NYPD’s drone program and directed one such drone to fly over the plaza.

Shortly after 3 p.m., NYU officials posted to social media, telling the protesters to leave the area by 4 p.m.

NYU spokesperson John Beckman said in a statement the protesters were asked to disperse after "additional protesters, many of whom we believe were not affiliated with NYU, suddenly breached the barriers" set up on the plaza earlier in the day.

"We witnessed disorderly, disruptive, and antagonizing behavior that has interfered with the safety and security of our community, and that demonstrated how quickly a demonstration can get out of control or people can get hurt," Beckman said.

The clearing of the encampment came five days after the NYPD broke up a similar protest at Columbia University, arresting more than 100 pro-Palestinian protesters who set up tents on the lawn at the upper Manhattan school.

Chabad at Columbia University on Sunday shared videos to social media showing some demonstrators shouting harassing comments at Jewish students like “go back to Poland” — language that the White House, Mayor Eric Adams and many protestors at Columbia have denounced.

Protesters have over the last week set up similar encampments at The New School in Manhattan, Yale University and the University of Michigan. The actions show the increasing difficulties university administrators have in allowing students to protest while also trying to prevent antisemitic speech and other actions that make Jewish students feel unsafe.

The NYU protesters’ demands included an end to the killing of Palestinians in Gaza, the closure of NYU’s Tel Aviv campus, and for the school to “divest its finances and endowment from weapons manufacturers and companies” that supply arms to Israel, according to posts by its organizers.

Columbia’s classes went virtual on Monday in what university President Minouche Shafik said was an effort to “deescalate the rancor there.”

Beckman, the NYU spokesperson, said in a statement the demonstration there “occurred without notice to the University,” but said in-person classes would carry on as scheduled.

“We will continue to support individuals’ right to freedom of expression, and, as we have said since October, the safety of our students and maintaining an equitable learning environment remain paramount," Beckman said.

The NYU encampment coincided with the start of Passover.

Several student protesters who set up tents on the plaza led chants throughout the day as more than 100 supporters gathered on the sidewalk.

“We see the students are putting it all on the line, willing to sacrifice their scholarships, their classes, their graduations for Palestine [and] to end this genocide,” said Julie Norris a Bronx resident who was protesting from outside the NYU encampment . “So we’re all really inspired and holding them close to our hearts and want to support in every way we can. They’re sparking action all across the country.”

Several protesters inside the encampment had said they would remain on the plaza until their demands are met, but declined to provide their names, saying they feared being publicly targeted and having personal information released by critics. Most of the demonstrators on the plaza wore masks and sunglasses.

Across the street from the encampment, a dozen Jewish students and supporters of Israel waved Israeli flags.

“We’re just showing support for Israel,” said business school student Celia Steinhauer. “We are Jewish. We are obviously staunch Zionists. We support our right to exist, our right to live in peace, to be safe.”

She said the protest — particularly certain chants — made her feel unsafe.

“We don't feel protected by the university at this current moment given that they're enabling this to happen.” She said an example was protestors’ calls to “globalize the Intifada.”

The word has been used in a contemporary context to “shake off” Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, but has also been used as a call for violence in opposition to Israel.

This story has been updated with new information.