The facade of the New York Public Library now reads “Free Palestine” after pro-Palestine protesters spray-painted the landmark in opposition to the war in Gaza.
Demonstrators graffitied the words below the pillars of the city’s library near Bryant Park on Thanksgiving Day. They also put handprints in red paint along the facade and spilt some of the paint in a way that resembled blood.
A NYPD spokesperson told The Independent on Friday that no arrests were made in the wake of the incident. “The Hate Crime Task Force was notified of the incident. There are no arrests and the investigation is ongoing,” the spokesperson wrote in an email.
The New York Public Library told The Independent in a statement that it “strongly supports the right to protest.” However, the institution described the Thursday demonstration as “a shameful act of vandalism,” explaining that the cleanup will be expensive, especially as it is already “facing steep budget cuts.”
“We do not anticipate any unplanned closures due to this, and remain committed to providing the resources we know so many people rely on,” the statement added.
The defacement came the same day that protesters also disrupted the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade by allegedly glueing their hands to the ground in the middle of 6th Avenue.
The demonstrators were wearing white jumpsuits, with words such as “colonialism,” “imperialism” and “consumerism,” written on them, then proceeded to pour fake blood over each other, according to The New York Post.
The protest comes after more than 14,000 Palestinians have been killed and some 1.7 million displaced by Israel’s war in Gaza, which was sparked by a Hamas attack on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people. Both sides agreed to a temporary ceasefire starting on Friday as 50 Hamas-held hostages are set to be freed in exchange for the release of 150 Palestinian women and teenagers held in Israeli prisons.
