CUNY public security officers and the NYPD rapidly quashed an try by college students to ascertain a ‘Liberated Zone’ on the quad of Metropolis Faculty of New York on Thursday afternoon.
A bunch of a number of dozen pro-Palestinian protesters on the campus introduced they’d arrange a “liberated zone” round 2 p.m. however have been swiftly confronted by CUNY officers who pressured them out of the realm, dousing some in pepper spray. No less than one scholar was arrested, an NYPD spokesperson later confirmed.
One video posted by a photojournalist Marcos Gabriel Quiñones confirmed a CUNY officer waving the pepper spray on the crowd, which additionally appeared to waft onto an adjoining public security officer who coated his face, backing away from the scholars.
One CUNY undergraduate scholar named Aria, who declined to provide her identify and age due to worries about retaliation from directors, mentioned she’d hopped a fence to keep away from the cloud.
“They began indiscriminately pepper spraying us,” she mentioned.
CUNY public security officers and the NYPD rapidly squashed an try by college students to arrange a “Liberated Zone” on the Metropolis Faculty of New York uptown campus, April 24, 2025. Credit score: Gwynne Hogan/THE CITY
Just like the 5 calls for spelled out by college students throughout final 12 months’s encampment on CCNY campus, Aria mentioned the purpose of demonstrators within the liberated liberated zone was to strain CUNY to reveal its investments and divest from firms profiting off Israel’s battle in Gaza, in addition to calling free of charge tuition to the college amongst others.
CUNY spokesperson Jay Mwamba mentioned the college was conscious of the demonstration at CCNY, declining to touch upon the usage of pepper spray.
“As there is an active investigation at this time, we cannot comment on specific allegations related to today’s protest,” Mwamba mentioned. “Extra public safety officers are on campus and access to the campus is restricted to CCNY employees and students with ID.”
A spokesperson for Teamsters Native 237, which represents CUNY public security officers, declined to remark.
Within the aftermath of the chaotic scene, NYPD officers there ordered college students on Convent Avenue south of the quad, shoving and forcing them down the block and off campus. A number of protesters who’d been hit by the clouds of pepper spray squatted on the sidewalk gasping as others poured water on their crimson, puffy faces.
The foiled CCNY occupation got here a day after NBC reported that college students at Columbia College have been planning to reestablish an encampment there, although that appeared to not have occurred by Thursday afternoon.
Pupil demonstrators concerned in pro-Palestinian demonstrations are dealing with immense pressures from the Trump administration, which has revoked the visas of 1,800 worldwide college students and detained different noncitizen activists together with two from close by Columbia, Mahmoud Khalil and Mohsen Mahdawi.
Earlier this month, CUNY confirmed 17 of its personal college students had their visas revoked, together with some from CCNY.
“In this political climate, risking arrest, it is not safe,” Aria mentioned, because the group swiftly marched across the campus, with leaders warning others to disperse in simply over an hour.
“They were more prepared for us” than final 12 months, she mentioned, when a scholar encampment lasted for 5 days earlier than it was busted up by the NYPD the night time of April 30, the identical night time as officers raided Columbia’s campus.
CUNY public security officers had additionally unleashed pepper spray on scholar demonstrators then, with Metropolis Faculty President Vincent Boudreau later lamenting they didn’t have correct crowd management coaching.
On Thursday afternoon, CCNY college students obtained a discover from directors that the campus could be locked down on Friday, and require identification to enter by means of Could 1.
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