LIVE: Paulson Center on lockdown after hundreds of protests outside encampment

This is a developing story, check back for updates.

Updated, 11:35 pm

Police officers arrested a counterprotester who was playing music over a speaker near the barricade in front of the Paulson Center encampment, putting them in handcuffs and taking them to a New York City Police Department van on Mercer Street. It is unclear whether the individual arrested was affiliated with NYU. Prior to the arrest, pro-Palestinian protesters appeared to push the counterprotester away from the barricade, and the counterprotester attempted to push back. A group of around seven counterprotesters remain in the area, with one chanting “victory for Israel, down with Hamas.”

Updated, 10:52 pm

Around 12 police officers have moved to the side of the encampment where pro-Israeli counterprotesters have gathered. The counterprotesters are arguing with a small group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators, including two professors, and a line of police officers stands between the two groups. The protest outside the encampment now comprises around 50 individuals.

Updated, 9:22 pm

Police have left the barricade and are now stationed inside the Paulson Center lobby, and around 30 officers remain outside the building’s entrance. About 20 counterprotesters have begun chanting from the Bleecker Street side of Paulson.

NYU announced the Paulson Center is on lockdown after hundreds of protesters joined the dozens of students and faculty outside the Gaza Solidarity Encampment on the Greene Street Walk earlier this evening. Hours prior, demonstrators inside the encampment reestablished around 30 tents against the university requirements to take them down.

About 30 New York City Police Department officers are stationed in front of the building, with nine officers being seen with zip-ties behind the barricade at the building’s west side. Around 30 students in that area are chanting “disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest” and “NYU, close Tel Aviv.” Another dozen police officers and around six NYPD vans are also stationed along Mercer Street, marking the first time police were seen guarding the Paulson Center since the NYPD left the scene Friday.

At around 6:50 pm, Paulson residents received an emergency alert from NYU that the building would be on lockdown and that guests would need to show their NYU ID to enter the building.

Protesters — which include students from City University of New York and Columbia University — are standing on the Bleecker Street side of Paulson. Around two dozen police officers are on the other side of the street, alongside 15 counterprotesters holding Israeli flags.

On Monday, the university told student protesters at the encampment that they would be suspended if they did not leave the area and remove their supplies after negotiations between the NYU Palestine Solidarity Coalition and administrators fell through. In a previous statement to WSN, university spokesperson John Beckman said NYU is not considering divestment from Israel, one of the protesters’ demands, citing concerns with the university’s endowment fund.

Yesterday, over 100 protesters held a rally at the Paulson Center and later joined a march to The New School, the Fashion Institute of Technology, Columbia and the City College of New York organized the the pro-Palestinian advocacy group Within our Lifetime. The protest comes one day after the NYPD arrested over 100 demonstrators at Columbia after they occupied the university’s Hamilton Hall.

A university spokesperson and PSC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Dharma Niles contributed reporting.

Contact Bruna Horvath at [email protected].