Grand Central Terminal reopens but access restricted due to protesters
New York City’s iconic Grand Central Terminal has reopened, but only for ticketed customers only.
Grand Central Terminal has reopened for ticketed customers only.
Customers can enter and exit using the entrance at 105 E 42nd Street for the rest of the evening. pic.twitter.com/ZSPfCelppE— Metro-North Railroad (@MetroNorth) October 28, 2023
Earlier on Friday, Oct. 27, hundreds of protesters in black T-shirts filled Grand Central Terminal during the evening rush hour on Friday to demand a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, closing the train station hub temporarily.
Many of the protesters were detained by police and taken out of the station, their hands zip tied behind their backs, according to video posted on social media by protest organizers. The NYPD could not immediately say how many were taken into custody.
“Hundreds of Jews and friends are taking over Grand Central Station in a historic sit-in calling for a ceasefire,” advocacy group Jewish Voice for Peace said on social media.
Inside the main concourse, protesters wearing shirts that read “cease-fire now” and “not in our name” chanted, with some holding banners in front of the list of departure times. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority asked commuters to use Penn Station as an alternative.
The scene echoed last week’s sit-in where more than 300 people were arrested for illegally demonstrating on Capitol Hill in Washington.
Also earlier Friday, the U.N. General Assembly approved a nonbinding resolution calling for a “humanitarian truce” in Gaza leading to a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers, the first United Nations response to the war.
The 193-member world body adopted the resolution by a vote of 120-14 with 45 abstentions after rejecting a Canadian amendment backed by the United States. It would have unequivocally condemned the Oct. 7 “terrorist attacks” by Hamas and demanded the immediate release of hostages taken by Hamas, which is not mentioned in the Arab-drafted resolution.
Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Gilad Erdan called it “a day that will go down in infamy,” saying after the vote: “Israel will not stop the operation until Hamas terror capabilities are destroyed and our hostages are returned. … And the only way to destroy Hamas is root them out of their tunnels and subterranean city of terror.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Grand Central Terminal restricted due to Israel-Hamas war protest
