Protesters calling for a cease-fire in Gaza blockaded major traffic routes in New York City Monday.
Demonstrators stopped traffic on the Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg Bridges and in the Holland Tunnel at roughly the same time on Monday morning.
Demonstrators linked themselves with zip-ties and in some cases cement-filled tires. At at least one bridge, protesters used chains and pipes to build barricades that police later cut through with saws.
Mon Mohapatra, who protested at the Brooklyn Bridge, told The New York Times the protests were meant to mirror conditions in Gaza, where evacuees have died even after following evacuation orders.
"We are trying to show how it feels to be trapped in a city you can’t leave," Mohapatra said.
Traffic across the thoroughfares had resumed by 11 a.m.
Police said they had arrested more than 325 people and charged some of them with misdemeanors.
Pro-Palestinian protesters block airport roadways in Calif., New York
The protest stalled traffic on the way to California's Los Angeles International Airport and New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.
The war in Gaza has driven protests across the U.S. and across the world, with participants often calling for an end to the war or an end to U.S. armament of Israel.
Demonstrators in December disrupted traffic to John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens and have also gathered during public events like the annual Thanksgiving Day parade and the lighting of the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been vocal about the disruptions.
“I don’t believe that people should be able to just take over our streets and march in our streets,” he said. “I don’t believe people should be able to take over our bridges. I just don’t believe you can run a city this complex where people can just do whatever they want.”
