Protestors Calling For Cease-Fire in Gaza Flood Grand Central & Brooklyn Bridge

A protest calling for a cease-fire in Gaza–spearheaded by Jewish Voices for Peace, a left-wing & anti-Zionist activist organization–shut down Grand Central Station on the evening of Friday, October 27. Demonstrators began flooding the station at around 6 p.m., shutting down all but two exit doors within an hour. At 7:35 p.m., the MTA said on social media that the station was closed entirely. Commuter access began again at 9 p.m., although only at one E. 42nd St. entrance.

The NYPD told Straus News that 335 people had been taken into custody, hit with summons for disorderly conduct and criminal trespass, and released. Notable attendees included State Assembly Member Emily Gallagher (Brooklyn) and State Senator Julia Salazar, who recently issued a joint statement calling for the “rapid de-escalation of the current violence.” Gallagher was one of those handcuffed, which she documented on X.com (formerly Twitter). “I cannot sit idly by while my government supports the collective punishment of civilians,” she added.

Protestors wore shirts bearing a “Not in our name” slogan. “No more weapons. No more war. Ceasefire is what we’re calling for,” they chanted.

Jay Saper, a lead organizer with Jewish Voices for Peace, told CNN in an October 28 interview that “our Jewish tradition, my Jewish tradition, teaches me that life is precious, and that is why so many of us are doing all that we can to try to save lives in Gaza, to call for an immediate cease-fire so that Gaza can live.”

Pro-Palestinian protests continued the next day, with the community group Within Our Lifetimes leading a sizable march across the Brooklyn Bridge. Marchers carried signs reading “Israeli Apartheid & Genocide Funded By The U.S.” and “Honor the Martyrs of Palestine.”

The New York City Emergency Management Department notified city residents online that “all lanes” of the bridge were briefly shut down, and that they should consider “alternative routes.”

Cops confirmed that one arrest was made at that demonstration; Joshua Van Biema, 26, was hit with charges including “Auto Stripping” and “Possession of Graffiti Instruments.” However, a woman on the bridge reportedly slapped a pro-Palestinian protestor and yelled “f**k Palestine” at him. She is currently being sought by the NYPD’s hate crime task force. This comes amid a spate of hate-crime assaults against Muslim and Jewish residents of NYC.

The bridge was reportedly briefly shut down by the demonstration, which ended at around 7 p.m. in Union Square. Other large pro-Palestinian protests have been held this month in Midtown and Times Square.

Pro-Israel events in the city have been attended by the likes of Mayor Eric Adams, City Council Member Gale Brewer, and NY Governor Kathy Hochul. Dueling protests were kicked off by an October 7 assault on that country by the Islamist militant group Hamas, which killed 1,400 Israelis and took more than 200 people hostage. Israel has now reportedly begun a “ground incursion” into the Gaza Strip after mounting a retaliatory siege against the enclave, killing over 8,300 Palestinians.