325 pro-Palestinian protesters arrested after blocking NYC bridges, tunnel

Jan. 8 (UPI) -- Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested in New York City on Monday after they blocked rush-hour traffic on bridges and inside a tunnel, disrupting travel into and out of Manhattan.

The New York Police Department reported 325 protesters were arrested after they blocked the Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges, as well as the Holland Tunnel, starting at 9:40 a.m. The demonstrators sat in the roadway with arms linked in concrete-filled tires and PVC pipes, chanting "free Palestine."

"Today protesters blocked three bridges and the Holland Tunnel at 9:40 a.m. By 11:15 a.m., we were able to clear the locations with 325 arrests," NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter. "In lieu of summons, many protesters will face misdemeanor charges with a desk appearance ticket."

"Palestine protesters take over the Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, Williamsburg Bridge and Holland Tunnel to demand an end to the ongoing American-funded, American-led genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza," the Palestinian Youth Movement wrote Monday in a post on X, formerly Twitter, with video showing the group chanting as they block the Holland Tunnel.

The protesters' coordinated disruption of New York City traffic was organized by several groups, including Jewish Voice for Peace, Palestinian Youth Movement and Al-Awda: The Palestine Right to Return Coalition.

The groups were drawing attention to Israel's war against Hamas, along with five demands that included "a permanent cease-fire, an end to the U.S. government's arming of the Israeli regime, an end to the siege of Gaza, an end to Zionist occupation and the release of all Palestinian political prisoners."

"USA: Stop arming Israel now!," Palestinian Youth Movement wrote in a post on X, with photos of the protest.

"By blocking the city's exits, the protesters created -- briefly, imperfectly -- a physical analogue for the situation in Gaza, where there is no getting out," a press release from protest organizers said.

At the Holland Tunnel, protesters chanted "Israel bombs, USA pays," as demonstrators also blocked traffic in the Wall Street area in Lower Manhattan where a number of bus routes were delayed.

It has been three months since Hamas launched a surprise attack against Israeli civilians, on Oct. 7, killing an estimated 1,200 people and taking more than 240 hostages. Israel's response in its war on Gaza has killed more than 22,000, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.

Since then, there have been a number of pro-Palestinian protests in New York and other cities, including a rally last month in Times Square where about 200 pro-Palestinian protesters flooded parts of New York City after police barricaded the doors to the American Museum of Natural History. Another demonstration, outside of New York's Israel consulate two days after the conflict started, involved pro-Palestinian protesters clashing with those rallying for Israel.

While New York Mayor Eric Adams defended the protesters' right to demonstrate Monday, he argued it does not give them the right to block bridges and tunnels.

"The goal is to peacefully protest without doing major disruption to the city. Some people are not just driving to and from, across our bridges to go to their place of employment, some of them are dealing with some real emergency type issues," Adams told reporters.

"I have been extremely clear, it gives us all pain to see innocent lives being lost right now," Adams added. "We need to do whatever is possible to end anything that is going to take the lives of innocent people, but Hamas must be destroyed. They are a terrorist organization."