3 arrests at Grand Central, 13 total during NYC subway protests
NEW YORK (WABC) -- Protesters linked arms and packed into the Great Hall disrupting Friday evening's commute for many at Grand Central Terminal. They stood firm, linking arms under the clock, hoisted profane signs--and dared police to do something about it.
The MTA police made three arrests and issued eight summonses. Also, The NYPD arrested 13-people and ticketed 11-others citywide.
Across the transit system, activists vandalized MTA infrastructure to make their point that public transit should be free, and that police should back down from enforcing crimes like turnstile jumping.
Protesters took that fight directly to police and kept police guessing about where they were headed - into the subway and out - however, the NYPD was ready.
Banners were also unfurled in Brooklyn and at the World Trade Center Oculus promoting the protests, called "(Expletive) Your $2.75," with organizers saying the goal is to remove officers from the subway system and provide for free transit.
The action, dubbed #J31 for January 31, or #FTP3, is the third in a string of protests against police in the subways.
The protests started after the arrest of a 15-year-old in Downtown Brooklyn that was caught on camera.
The group marched through Downtown Brooklyn and then in Harlem in November.
They say the added police are targeting minor crimes in the city's subways and are discriminatory against minorities.
Officials say a protester threw a hammer through the plate glass window of a Chipotle at 111 Fulton Street, sending glass flying into a woman eating her dinner. She was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries.
----------
