NYPD shuts down CUNY Gaza Solidarity Encampment at City College

By Leon Orlov-Sullivan, Editor-in-Chief, The Campus

Updated 2:42 PM EDT, May 1, 2024

On Tuesday night, April 30, hundreds of NYPD officers flooded City College’s campus to clear the CUNY Gaza Solidarity Encampment, which had been present on the quad at CCNY since Thursday, April 25. At around 8 p.m., NYPD blockaded City College’s campus fully—no students, faculty, or members of the public (who are typically allowed onto campus grounds) could enter. 

Soon after the NYPD blocked off CCNY’s campus, protestors supporting the encampment amassed around the blocked off entrance at 139 St. Protest chants heard by The Campus included “Students, hold your ground, NYPD back down,” and “Disclose, divest, we will not stop we will not rest.” Outside of the gates, dozens of protestors were arrested. Some protestors were pushed to the ground and tackled by NYPD. Marlene McKinney, a CCNY student who was present on the sidewalk outside the gate at 139 St. and Amsterdam Ave., told The Campus the group of protestors she was in had been “… pushed together by batons” by NYPD officers. Marlene told The Campus that “The entire situation was precarious and the arrests were sporadic,” noting that it wasn’t clear what protestors were being arrested for on the public sidewalk.

Inside the portion of campus which had been fully barricaded—from 140 St. to 136 St. on Convent Ave—police used pepper spray on activists and members of the press. According to a statement put out by CUNY, students gained access to the Administration Building on campus & caused damage inside. The statement reported the “Vandalizing of offices and smashing glass doors.” 

Around midnight, hundreds of NYPD officers entered campus through the gate on 139 St. to sweep the encampment. Before this, people at the encampment were advised internally to leave or risk being arrested. The NYPD announced, repeatedly, “Since you have refused to leave the campus, you are being placed under arrest. If you fail to comply or if you resist arrest, additional charges can be placed against you.” Dozens of activists were arrested in the center, where they had linked arms. 

Tents on the encampment on Friday night // Leon Orlov-Sullivan, The Campus

Matteo, a Hunter College student who asked to be identified only by his first name, told The Campus, “We locked arms around the flagpole and got picked off one by one by cops.” Matteo added that protestors were thrown to the ground, adding, “In my bus, one of the protestors had a fractured shoulder, and the cuffs were too tight to the point her hands started turning purple. At one point she started crying while trying to breathe through it.” 

Officers entered the encampment from the north end, clearing the barricade erected by demonstrators and taking down tents. Minutes after entering, officers took down the Palestinian flag hoisted onto the flagpole at the center of CCNY’s quad. The flag had been a point of contention between organizers and administration. The Campus heard in an announcement made on the encampment that during the earlier days of the encampment, port-a-potties were offered by administration in exchange for the Palestinian flag to be taken down. Organizers rejected this offer. 

After the encampment had been cleared, with all students, faculty, and legal observers removed from campus, The Campus magazine reported from outside campus, where protestors had gathered in support of the encampment. Not-in-service MTA buses were used to transport people who had been arrested. The audience of The Campus’ Instagram livestream looked up the names and badge numbers of NYPD present at the protestors, discovering that many of them had previous violations. 

It’s unclear how this will impact the return to campus. CUNY Administration announced a move to online classes on Tuesday. In his interview with The Campus on Tuesday, President Vincent Boudreau stated that the move to online courses is “open-ended.” City College Art Lecturer Jayne Cole told The Campus on Wednesday, “I think there’s a lot of sadness [among the faculty].” Cole added “I believe that students are not a threat and have the right to protest.”

A reporter for The Campus was live on Instagram for the night. The Campus was live inside of and immediately outside of the encampment until being escorted to leave by police. Coverage can be seen on The Campus’ Instagram page @ccnycampus. 

The encampment on Thursday // Leon Orlov-Sullivan, The Campus