New York City has been a hotbed of anti-Israel protesters since Oct. 7 and the Hamas terrorist attacks that murdered 1,200 people and took more than 250 men, women and children hostage. Demonstrations were particularly disruptive over the holidays.
On Monday morning, anti-Israel activists organized in groups large enough to shut down the Brooklyn Bridge, Williamsburg Bridge, Manhattan Bridge and the Holland Tunnel for several hours. The New York Police Department and the Port Authority Police arrested a total of 325 people.
John Chell, the NYPD Chief of Patrol, said that many protesters would receive misdemeanor charges and a ticket to appear in court. Of those arrested, 120 went into custody for stopping traffic at the lower level of the Holland Tunnel, a key connection between Manhattan and New Jersey.
Previous anti-Israel protests to impair those seeking to travel include a Jan. 1 effort to stop passengers from reaching their flights at the John F. Kennedy International Airport, where the release of balloons there, a federal crime, has led to an FBI investigation. Other sites of disruption over the past few months have been at Moynihan Train Hall at Penn Station and Grand Central Station, both in Midtown Manhattan.
