UPDATE: Bridges and Tunnels Open After Pro-Palestinian Protesters Take the High Road

UPDATE 2:16 p.m.

As per the NYPD, By 11:15 a.m., they were able to clear the locations after making 325 arrests along with Port Authority of NY & NJ. In place of summons, many protestors will face misdemeanor charges with a desk appearance ticket.

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UPDATE 11:32am:

As per NYPD, Protests have dispersed in all locations. Expect residual delays.

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ORIGINAL REPORT 10:41am:

Pro-Palestinian protesters have taken to the streets - and bridges - and tunnels, blocking, the Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, Williamsburg Bridge, and Holland Tunnel. 

Drivers are advised to use alternative routes. 

“I don't believe people should be able to take over our bridges,” Mayor Adams shared with reporters at City Hall on Tuesday, December 26, as reported by BoroPark24 here. 

“I don't believe that people should be able to just take over our streets and march in our streets. “I just don't believe you can run a city in which people can just do whatever they want.”

New York City’s permissiveness regarding public protests, the mayor said, is the result of a legal settlement that was decided by a judge after the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020.

“When you look at the agreement, New Yorkers’ right to walk in the streets is more lenient,” said the mayor, who also bemoaned the NYPD’s lack of clarity and freedom on what and how much action they can take to disrupt violent protests. 

“The Police Department has to be extremely hesitant in actions that they would have carried out in the past to keep the peace,” the mayor said.

Mayor Adams blamed the chaos and ugliness of the pro-Palestinian protests on “outside agitators who come from all over the country and embed themselves into peaceful protests to rile up the crowd.

“We can't tolerate and accept that.”

And yet, less than two weeks after the mayor's firm declaration, the pro-Palestinian protests, agitation, and outright chutzpah are still going strong and getting worse, causing unbelievable inconveniences, endangering the livelihood, quality of life, and even causing life-threatening issues for far too many New Yorkers who know by now that something must be done by those elected to take charge.