NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – More demonstrations were planned Tuesday near NYU and Columbia University as protests over the Israel-Gaza war and outrage over antisemitism on college campuses has led to fiery confrontations and mounting pressure on college leadership, including calls for Columbia's president to resign. Hundreds of protesters have been arrested in recent days, including 130 at NYU on Monday.
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5 p.m. -- Columbia encampment continues, House speaker to visit campus Wednesday
What began last week when students at Columbia refused to end their protest against Israel’s war with Hamas had turned into a much larger movement by Tuesday as students across the nation set up encampments, occupied buildings and ignored demands to leave.
With tensions at Columbia continuing to run high and some students afraid to set foot on the campus, officials said the university will switch to hybrid learning for the rest of the semester.
Students at Columbia occupying the West Lawn plan to stay until their demands are met, according to reports. They want the university to divest from anything related to Israel, provide financial transparency, and grant amnesty to protesting students.
House Speaker Mike Johnson will visit Columbia University on Wednesday to meet with Jewish students and discuss the rise of antisemitism on college campuses.
4 p.m. -- Over 200 pro-Palestinian protestors released with summonses after arrested at Columbia and NYU, no criminal record
Nearly all of the over 230 protestors arrested during the pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University and New York University in recent days were released with summonses, the NYPD confirmed.
Of the 116 people arrested at NYU on Monday night, 112 were given summonses for trespassing, while the remaining four received desk appearance tickets for obstructing governmental administration and resisting arrest, police said.
Protests against the war had been bubbling for months but kicked into a higher gear after more than 100 pro-Palestinian demonstrators who had camped out on Columbia University's upper Manhattan campus were arrested Thursday.
Over 100 people arrested at the Gaza Solidarity Encampment at Columbia were also released and given summonses for trespassing.
1:45 p.m. – Protest held at Washington Square Park
Protesters gathered at Washington Square Park, near the NYU campus, on Tuesday afternoon after organizers called for a student walkout. The protest appeared peaceful following Monday night's disorder at Gould Plaza at NYU. Demonstrators said they turned out not only to support Palestinians but to decry the NYPD's actions at the plaza.
The walkout included NYU students and faculty supporting the protesters.
History Professor Jacob Remes told 1010 WINS' Marla Diamond that police are causing the disruption.
“Administrations should not be arresting faculty and students for a peaceful protest,” Remes said. “You can't be a university if that's what you're doing.”
Some Jewish students who felt threatened following the demonstrations on campus believe that the school is doing the right thing.
“There are some things that are overtly anti Semitic that have been accepted and that is not okay, it is not,” Natalie, a Jewish first year student at NYU, said.
Anusha, a junior at NYU, supported the protest and felt the arrests were unwarranted.
“NYU's statement was that their were very intimidating chants and when those chants were just Arabic, it really shows how inherently racist the opposition to any pro-Palestinian is.”
The university put Plywood around the Stern Business School Plaza where the encampment was staged to ensure students would not return.
1 p.m. – Mayor Adams says outside agitators are in protests
At his weekly press Q&A from City Hall, Mayor Eric Adam said officials have found "outside agitators" who aren't students are taking part in protests on school campuses, including at NYU, where NYPD officers clashed with demonstrators and arrested at least 130 people on Monday night.
"We can't have outside agitators come in and be destructive to our city," the mayor told reporters. "Someone wanted something to happen at that protest at NYU."
Adams said: "There are people who come—have nothing to do with the issue—and they want to aggravate. Now if those police officers didn't show a high level of discipline this could have been an ugly situation."
The mayor said the issue should be addressed "while it is just a spark, let's not wait until it's a blazing fire."
"College campuses are there to educate," he said. "Who would have thought they'd wake up and have to deal with an issue as volatile as this?"
The city is encouraging schools to use their campus security to keep outsiders away from the protests, Adams said.
12:30 p.m. – More protests planned for NYU, Columbia
After heated confrontations outside Columbia and at NYU on Monday, organizers announced more demonstrations Tuesday afternoon as pro-Palestinian activists push for the schools to cut ties with Israel over the war in Gaza.
An NYU student walkout and a protest at Washington Square Park was planned for 1 p.m. at NYU. Meanwhile, a 4 p.m. rally was announced at the Columbia gates.
12 p.m. – Rally for hostages to be held at Columbia on Friday
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum announced a rally for 9:30 a.m. Friday at the main gate of Columbia. "We are here to remind you: Bring the hostages home," reads a flier posted to social media by the group.
According to Israel, 133 hostages remain in captivity after Hamas kidnapped about 250 people in their Oct. 7 terrorist attack.
11:30 a.m. – NYU builds wall at plaza where cops, protesters clashed
NYU built a wooden wall around Gould Plaza, where police made the majority of the at least 130 arrests on Monday night. NYU said there were reports of intimidating chants, and university officials ultimately called in police to arrest demonstrators from the plaza, which is near the NYU Stern School of Business.
Meanwhile, officials are continuing to limit access to the Columbia campus, where pro-Palestinian students continue to camp out on the main lawn, nearly a week after the NYPD moved in and arrested more than 100 of them last Thursday. The school has switched to a hybrid learning schedule for the rest of the semester, giving students the option to take classes remotely. Columbia has ramped up its private security inside the campus as the NYPD patrols nearby streets.
Demonstrations were also reported Tuesday at the New School in Greenwich Village, where protests and encampments have been popping up for days.
The Associated Press has contributed to this report.