The “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” began with dozens of protesters gathering at Gould Plaza early Monday morning, calling for NYU to divest from companies with ties to Israel. Throughout the day, Campus Safety Department and police presence near the protest gradually increased, along with the size of the encampment, which at its peak reached hundreds of protesters. With permission from the NYU administration, New York City Police Department officers in riot gear entered the plaza after sunset and arrested dozens of protesters.

Protesters huddled together inside the encampment before classes began, around 8 a.m. They set up green, blue and white tents, chairs and signs, similarly to pro-Palestinian protesters who had set up encampments at other universities.

Campus Safety and NYPD officers on bikes placed barricades and stood guard around Gould Plaza. Campus Safety blocked off the main entrance into Tisch Hall, and students and faculty had to show their NYU IDs to be allowed into Schwartz Plaza — the corridor between Bobst Library and the Stern School of Business that is normally open to the public.

A smaller group of pro-Israeli counterprotesters entered the northwest corner of the intersection between Greene Street and West Fourth Street. Counterprotesters waved Israeli flags and at times exchanged chants with the protesters at the encampment.

Most of the campus remained in operation throughout the day, with Bobst Library having been temporarily closed. NYU rerouted the admissions tours for prospective students to avoid the encampment area. Students and faculty inside the Courant Institute of Mathematical Science and the Stern School of Business could be seen peering out the windows to watch the protests from above.

Members of NYU Faculty for Justice in Palestine joined protesters at the encampment, and delivered speeches to the crowd. Campus Safety shut off access to Gould Plaza shortly after faculty members entered the plaza.

In the afternoon, the NYPD dispatched more than 20 police officers around Gould Plaza to monitor the encampment. The officers stood by as students and faculty made speeches to the crowd on West Fourth Street.

Fountain Walker, the head of NYU Campus Safety, entered the encampment around 3 p.m. to speak to protesters. Walker said protesters not affiliated with NYU had breached the barricades around Gould Plaza, against Campus Safety directions. He urged the protesters to leave the plaza within the next hour to avoid consequences.

Five NYPD correctional buses and trucks carrying officers in riot gear pulled into streets around Washington Square Park. The buses were parked on Mercer Street to the east of Gould Plaza. NYPD officers with helmets, batons and zip ties gathered on the intersection of Mercer Street and West Third Street before entering Gould Plaza from the south.

The NYPD arrested dozens of protesters for trespassing after NYU authorized police to sweep Gould Plaza. Police pushed and sometimes shoved protesters to the ground when arresting them, according to Instagram stories and posts by various on-campus student groups. Arrested protesters were zip-tied and put in NYPD correctional buses headed toward One Police Plaza.

Remaining protesters remained near Gould Plaza as NYPD officers attempted to clear out the area and adjacent streets. A group of protesters attempted to follow a pair of police officers who had apprehended another demonstrator into the Kimmel Center for University Life, but were not allowed in by Campus Safety.

Scattered protesters tried to stop correctional buses from leaving West Third Street, throwing obstacles on the ground and physically blocking the road. NYPD officers in riot gear pepper sprayed protesters, student journalists and legal observers in front of the buses as they drove by.

Shortly after the arrests, Gould Plaza stood virtually empty. Supplies left over from the encampment — disassembled tents and chairs — could be seen scattered across the floor. NYPD officers stood in a line in front of the plaza for multiple hours after it had been cleared.

Outside of One Police Plaza, where the NYPD’s headquarters is located, pro-Palestinian protesters lit up flares and held signs as they waited for arrested protesters to be released. Some 15 protesters had been released by early Tuesday morning.

Contact Krish Dev, Manasa Gudavalli, Emily Genova, Yezen Saadah, Matt Petres, Julia Smerling, Lianna O’Grady, Jason Alpert-Wisnia and Samson Tu at [email protected].