Pro-Palestinian protesters vandalized New York City’s flagship public library in Manhattan on Thanksgiving, and the clean-up process could cost up to $75,000.
The enormous building on Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street, known for its iconic lion statues out front, was defaced with red handprints, stickers, and green spray paint during at least three separate protests over the last few weeks.
The most damage was done on Thursday when hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrated during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
“On Thanksgiving, individuals involved in a protest engaged in a shameful act of vandalism to the Library’s flagship Stephen A. Schwarzman building, a space devoted to the open exchange of ideas and intellectual debate,” New York Public Library spokeswoman Jennifer Fermino told The Washington Post.
The flagship library building is named for Stephen A. Schwarzman, a Jewish businessman and philanthropist who donated $100 million in 2008 for the library’s expansion.
Some of the graffitied structures are delicate carved pieces that may have to be replaced if crews cannot remove the paint without damaging them, Garrett Bergen, director of facilities for the library, told Gothamist.
“It is too early to say the costs of fixing the damages but the repair costs for all could be between 60k and 75k,” Fermino told the New York Post.
The NYPD ended up arresting 34 protesters, including some who spray-painted “Free Palestine” on the library’s pillars. Library display boards outside the building were also vandalized with green and red paint — the colors of the Palestinian flag — and the words “Free Gaza.”
Some protesters also briefly disrupted the parade by gluing their hands to the pavement on its route. Several wore white jumpsuits drenched in fake blood and bearing words like “colonialism,” “consumerism,” “ethnic cleansing,” and “fascism.”
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Police said four people allegedly connected to the library vandalism were criminally charged with resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration, trespassing, and disorderly conduct. The other 30 people arrested were issued summons for trespassing.
The library’s vandalism comes in the wake of budget cuts due to New York City’s illegal migrant crisis.
Earlier this month, Mayor Eric Adams (D) slashed the city’s budget in several areas, including public libraries, policing, and sanitation.
“Migrant costs are going up, tax revenue growth is slowing, and COVID stimulus funding is drying up,” Adams said in a statement.
The library spokeswoman noted that the library “strongly supports the right to protest” but said the “steep budget cuts” have already affected the library’s service and the vandalism will be “costly to repair.”
Libraries across the city have already shuttered on Sundays in response to the budget cuts.