PROTESTERS SEEKING GAZA CEASEFIRE SHUT DOWN GRAND CENTRAL STATION, 335 ARRESTED
MORE THAN A 1,000 FACED OFF AGAINST POLICE AND NATIONAL GUARD INSIDE AND AROUND NEW YORK CITY’S ICONIC RAILROAD STATION. LARGEST MASS ARREST OF PROTESTERS SINCE GEORGE FLOYD-INSPIRED 2020 BLACK LIVES MATTER PROTESTS
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More than a thousand protesters demanding Israel stop bombing Palestinians in the Gaza Strip shut down Grand Central Station, one of New York City's primary transit hubs, for hours during Friday evening’s rush hour.
335 were arrested before police finally cleared the historic railroad station around 8:30 pm. They were released with criminal court summonses for trespass and disorderly conduct, an NYPD spokesperson said on Saturday.
At one of the station's entrances, more than 100 protesters chanted "FREE! FREE PALESTINE!" faced-off against MTA a small group of police officers and two National Guardsmen armed with assault rifles who prevented them from joining around 700 already gathered inside. Several hundred more protesters gathered on 42d Street outside other blocked entrances.
Both protesters and commuters heading home on a Friday evening were kept from entering the station for hours.
Banging a tambourine and chanting "CEASEFIRE NOW!," a small group started the protest by seizing the top of a stairwell leading to a balcony overlooking the station's main concourse. Authorities attempted to block off the area and police ordered those already there to leave, but more protesters swarmed up the stairs and police retreated—for a time.
Those at the top of the stairwell hung three banners that read "ISRAELIS DEMAND CEASEFIRE NOW," "PALESTINIANS SHOULD BE FREE" AND "MOURN THE DEAD AND FIGHT LIKE HELL FOR THE LIVING." The main body of protesters, several hundred strong, filled more than half the floor of the picturesque main concourse, beneath a ceiling covered in murals of several star constellations.
Photo Credit: all photographs by JB Nicholas.
The protest was organized by Jewish Voices for Peace. While the group did not publicize its location on its website beforehand, it was reported just before the protests' scheduled 6:00 pm start time. Police were prepared. They restricted access beforehand to only ticketed passengers riding on the MTA's commuter railroads and closely scrutinized those they did let into the station.
"Grand Central Terminal is closed due to a demonstration in the area," an electronic message board inside the station declared.
An MTA spokesperson pointed out that trains never stopped running, but admitted access to the station was blocked. Commuters were urged to take the #4 subway train to 125th Street, where they could transfer to commuter trains.
Meanwhile, hundreds of protesters wearing black t-shirts that read "NOT IN OUR NAME" chanted "LET GAZA LIVE!" and other slogans for more than two hours while commuters departing arriving trains negotiated them and the hundreds of police officers who encircled the protesters.
Two pairs of protesters climbed on top of ticket booths and stood in front of the station's departure board holding protest signs.
The NYPD warned protesters they would be arrested if they didn't leave that station, about an hour after the protest started. Hundreds left, walking out the station's main exit through a phalanx of other clapping, cheering protesters. Hundreds more remained. They submitted to arrest peacefully. Some were handcuffed two-by-two.
They formed a long line of prisoners inside the station leading to an exit on Lexington Avenue. There they were herded onto city and Department of Corrections buses while protesters gathered on the sidewalk held up protest signs, chanted protest slogans and occasionally cheered those arrested.
It was the largest mass arrest of protesters in New York City since the massive Black Lives Matter protests inspired by the 2020 murder of George Floyd by police in Minnesota.
Even after the station was cleared of protesters, hundreds remained gathered outside its entrances on 42d Street. One woman, held aloft her comrade's shoulders, lead a group chant to the beat of drum at the corner of Vanderbilt Avenue, which was shut down.
"WHAT DO WE WANT?," she shouted. "CEASE FIRE!," the crowd shouted back.
"WHEN DO WE WANT IT?," the woman shouted. "NOW!"
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