Dozens arrested as NYPD clears out protests at NYU, New School in New York City
GREENWICH VILLAGE, Manhattan (WABC) -- Dozens of people were arrested Friday morning when the NYPD cleared out protests at NYU and The New School in Greenwich Village.
Between NYU and The New School, 59 arrests were made. 12 individuals were released with summonses.
NYU and The New School, in separate statements, both said they requested police to move students from their campuses after multiple rounds of negotiations failed.
NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell and Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry told Eyewitness News that both schools authorized actions late Thursday night.
"We gave them the option to leave multiple times," Chell said. "We gave them what the options were in terms of summonses, desk appearance tickets."
New School President Donna Shalala said in a letter Friday morning that she asked the NYPD to clear demonstrators because they had begun blocking access to one of the dorms on campus.
"Yesterday, for the third time, we offered a meeting with representatives of the Investment Committee and the students said no -- even though we provided a confirmed date this month for the Investment Committee to consider a vote on disinvestment," Shalala wrote.
The NYPD met overnight to begin planning the 6 a.m. operations.
Before the arrests, students at The New School were seen occupying the lobby with signs and tents. Officers with protective gear moved in as some protesters screamed.
Students there told Eyewitness News they weren't leaving until their demands were met as they are calling on the institution to divest from Israeli-related entities.
The New School switched to remote learning for Friday as students have continued to set up in the lobby of the University Center building and block access to the "residence hall, classrooms, library, and cafeteria."
Over at NYU, students had occupied an outside corridor filled with tents and signs. A professor there said police moved in early Friday morning when many protesters in the corridor were sleeping.
NYU said the "encampment had become increasingly untenable for the NYU community and the neighborhood we inhabit."
The arrests Friday morning came days after hundreds were arrested at Columbia and City College. Of the 282 arrested, police say nearly half were not affiliated with either school.
Meanwhile, amid the chaos of the Hamilton Hall occupation at Columbia University on Tuesday evening, the NYPD says an officer unintentionally fired a shot in the building.
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