Demonstrations marking the first anniversary since the start of the Israel-Hamas war were largely peaceful as thousands gathered across the city on Monday. Police said they took seven people into custody.
NYPD officials said Tuesday that the seven people who were apprehended included two people who were given summonses and five who were arrested on charges ranging from making graffiti to resisting arrest and assault.
The five people facing charges were arrested between 5 and 6 p.m. in various locations in Midtown, police said. They were not close to the planned demonstrations at Union Square Park, Washington Square Park, at various college campuses and near Wall Street. No major property damage was reported.
As the anniversary approached, universities around the city worked to encourage students to keep peaceful dialogue around campus. Some also revised their codes of conduct around protests.
At the same time, the NYPD ratcheted up security measures around “key locations,” including synagogues and prepared to deploy en masse.
The relative calm around Monday’s demonstrations marked a sharp contrast to the volatile clashes between police and other demonstrators that erupted throughout the spring.
Since Oct. 7, the city has seen an increase in hate crimes – especially against Jewish people, according to the NYPD’s Hate Crimes Dashboard, which has recorded 200 anti-Jewish incidents from January to July of this year. Hate crimes against all other religious groups, including Muslims, were below 20 for the same time period.
New York is home to nearly 1 million Jews – the largest Jewish community outside Israel – and around 6,825 residents who identify as Palestinian, according to U.S. census data.