Images on social media showed protesters pouring out of the train station and onto 42nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, and a large crowd being detained by law enforcement
NEW YORK CITY — The Grand Central Terminal here, one of the city’s major transit hubs, was forced to shut down after hundreds of protesters demanding a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas stormed the place. The protest was organised by Jewish Voice for Peace and protesters carried banners saying, “Palestinians should be free.”
“Grand Central Terminal is closed until further notice due to a protest,” the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) said on its website, urging commuters to use alternate stations and plan for extra travel time.
“Mourn the dead, and fight like hell for the living,” read one banner raised inside the building.
Images on social media showed protesters pouring out of the train station and onto 42nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, and a large crowd being detained by law enforcement.
The group Jewish Voice for Peace posted a video on Instagram showing police in the station escorting a long line of protesters, who were wearing shirts reading “Cease Fire Now” and “Not In Our Name” with their arms secured behind their backs.
“Hundreds of Jews and allies are getting arrested in what is likely the biggest mass civil disobedience NYC has seen in two decades,” the group wrote in the post.
Israel’s military widened its air and ground attacks on the Palestinian enclave of Gaza on Friday. Hamas, the Palestinian group that rules Gaza, said its fighters were ready to confront Israeli attacks with “full force.” — Agencies
