Fordham University was free of protestors on May 2 after 15 were arrested the day before, but New York University’s encampment has grown rowdy.
“We urge the protesters to pick up their belongings and leave,” NYU spokesperson John Beckman told The Epoch Times in a statement.
New York’s most prominent universities have been plagued with unsightly encampments since April despite arrests at City University of New York (CUNY), Fordham University, NYU, and Columbia University. At most protest locations, students didn’t act alone.
For example, on April 22 at NYU’s Gould Plaza, fewer than half of the 133 protestors who were arrested were current NYU students or employees, according to Mr. Beckman.
At Fordham University, 15 people were arrested on May 1. They were subsequently released with summonses, according to an NYPD spokesperson.
At City College of New York (CCNY), 173 were arrested on April 30 compared to 109 at Columbia University, where students and outside activists broke windows and doors to gain entry to Hamilton Hall. CCNY is the founding institution of CUNY.
Occupiers of Hamilton Hall who were arrested include 13 outsiders, six students at unaffiliated schools, 14 Columbia undergraduates, nine Columbia graduates, and two Columbia employees.
“The disciplinary process is underway, as I’ve noted previously, with regard to both the encampments and the building occupation,” Columbia University spokesperson Ben Chang said during a virtual press briefing at 6 p.m.
“The occupiers violated various university policies, but more importantly, they broke the law. Actions have consequences.”
The various charges include obstruction of governmental administration, burglary, reckless endangerment, criminal mischief, conspiracy, and criminal trespass.
Classes and other campus activities are proceeding at NYU despite there being about 100 protesters camping in tents at the Greene St. Walkway adjacent to the Paulsen Center located at 181 Mercer and Bleecker Street.
‘Like to See a Zero-Tolerance Policy’
Yossi Hertz, 32, was among the spectators who were observing the Greene St. Walkway protestors today. The Brooklyn native is a 2017 graduate of CCNY, a current master’s student at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and an active Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reservist.“I would like to see a zero-tolerance policy,” Mr. Hertz told The Epoch Times. “The NYPD should have been called in immediately when it comes to discrimination and intimidation of any students, whether it’s for ethnicity or nationality. It’s completely unacceptable, and it’s completely illegal. Tolerating it shows how deplorably low the level of morality has sunk within the university.”
On May 1, some 500 demonstrators who were part of a larger May Day crowd marching through lower Manhattan broke off to protest at the Greene St. Walkway. So far, there have been no arrests at the Greene Street Walkway encampment.
“Last night’s incident was noisy and disruptive to those who live in the neighborhood,” Mr. Beckman added. “It involved vandalism, another incident of red ink being splashed, and one person who objected to the protest has reported being struck by a thrown bottle.”
Dave Thomas, 42, dropped by the NYU encampment after work to show his support for the protestors. The Queens resident felt compelled after what he saw happen at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) on television.
Some 200 protestors were arrested this week at the UCLA campus.
