State and city leaders maintain there is no credible threat of organized attacks in New York City, but officials remain on “high alert” as the war between Israel and Hamas escalates and a large demonstration is planned in Times Square on Friday.
The New York Times reports that, overnight, Israel ordered roughly 1.1 million Palestinians in northern Gaza to move south within 24 hours, as it appears to be readying a ground invasion of the territory in response to last week’s attack by Hamas. The United Nations urged Israel to rescind the order, which it said could have “devastating humanitarian consequences.”
In New York City, a large protest is gearing up in Times Square Friday afternoon, mostly organized by pro-Palestinian groups but, like protests throughout college campuses Thursday, pro-Israel demonstrators are expected to show up for counter-protests.
In an evening briefing with reporters Thursday, Mayor Eric Adams said he ordered additional NYPD officers to patrol schools, houses of worship and certain neighborhoods in anticipation of Friday’s protests.
Public schools will be open Friday, though there have been reports of some yeshivas closing for the day and houses of worship conducting remote services. There are currently no planned road closures as a result of protests, according to the NYPD. Train and bus service were operating on a normal schedule Friday morning.
Concerns over violence and unrest in the city increased Thursday after a former Hamas leader called for worldwide demonstrations in support of Palestinians. The campus protests were largely peaceful, but scattered, low-level incidents of violence between Jewish and Muslim New Yorkers have also put the city on edge, prompting the mayor to join with Gov. Kathy Hochul, the NYPD and other officials to emphasize Thursday that there were no specific, credible threats against the city.
As of Friday morning, the NYPD said that is still the case and the security measures will proceed as…
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