New York, NY – On a hot afternoon of Thursday, June 6, several hundred people gathered in front of the Intrepid Museum to disrupt the annual New York City Police Foundation Gala.

The foundation is a notorious nonprofit in the city that allows donors to anonymously donate money to the NYPD. As it’s been around since the 1970s, it’s been used as a way to funnel money into the NYPD without accountability for the donors. It’s egregious that the NYPD, with a budget of $11 billion, gets even more funds while libraries are getting shut down.

The foundation is also responsible for funding three major programs. Crime Stoppers is a program that gives money to civilians to report on each other. Option Foundations is a program where they pair up children with an NYPD officer and use virtual reality technology to teach them emotional intelligence. Finally, International Liaison: is the program that funds all overseas NYPD offices, including the one in Tel Aviv.

The gala is a yearly celebration for the NYPD and the wealthy trustees. The cheapest ticket to get in is $2500 and the most expensive one is $250,000. All proceeds go to the NYPD.

The protest was called by the New York Community Action Project (NYCAP) and had over 29 organizations endorsing it, including NYU SJP, Within Our Lifetime, Palestinian Youth Movement, Bayan North East, and Justice for Eudes Pierre.

Despite record levels of heat and the blazing sun, the crowd was fired up as wealthy donors entered the gala in their finery. The organizers were situated so that attendees had to walk by them and face down the angry protesters. Chants of “Blood on your hands” and “Shame” followed the wealthy as they scurried past.

Sharif Hall of NYCAP said during his introduction to the demonstration, “These rich people are donating money to the same foundation that will give money to the NYPD to go into our community to kill Black and brown brothers and sisters.” The crowd responded with loud “shame” as NYPD officers looked on.

The main demands of the protest were to disclose the donors’ names, stop funding police terror, and to demilitarize the subway. NYCAP has been organizing around the increase of police and the National Guard on the subway station since March.

Speakers at the rally were from NYU SJP, Justice for Eudes Pierre, and Bayan North East. Each speaker connected the issue of the NYPD to their own demands for justice and liberation.

Shivani Ishwar of NYCAP said this during their speech, “We know they are lying. More cops, more soldiers – they don’t keep us safe. They put us in danger. Since October, we’ve seen how they’ve treated people just for speaking out against a genocide. We’ve seen how they’ve stopped people because they’re Black or brown, or because they’re wearing a keffiyeh. We’ve seen how they rush to the defense of the institutions, at the direct expense of the people. We know that the only way to keep us safe is to get these cops out of here. We know that we need to get the National Guard out of our city!”

The protest ended with chanting with unrelenting energy. New Yorkers do not like the NYPD and will continue organizing to stop its onslaught of terror.

#NewYorkNY #InJusticeSystem #PoliceBrutality #NYCAP #CommunityControl #PoliceCrimes #NationalGuard

New York, NY – 60 people came out to Union Square, March 15, to protest against the recent deployment of the National Guard to inspect bags at high-traffic subway stations.

The protest was called by the New York Community Action Project (NYCAP) in light of Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams announcing a Five-Point Plan on March 6 to help address public safety on the subways.

In addition to deploying the National Guard, the Five-Point Plan puts 1000 more NYPD officers in subway stations, provides for more surveillance cameras, lets judges ban people from the subways, gives NYPD more power to involuntarily hospitalize people having mental health crises, and allows more coordination between district attorneys and NYPD to crackdown on civilians.

“Hey hey, ho ho! The National Guard has got to go!” chanted the crowd, led by NYCAP member Lee Dynes.

Speakers at the protest pointed out that these bag checks resemble the Stop and Frisk Policy, which has shown to disproportionately affect Black and brown people.

Briony Morgan, another member of NYCAP, pointed out in their speech, “The National Guard and more police is not what will keep us safe, we keep us safe! Instead of increasing militarization in our subways, the governor and mayor should be more concerned with providing better mental health resources and more money to address the issues of transportation in our city.”

As the militarization of subways continues to grow in New York City, NYCAP will continue to do more actions to demand an end to the deployment of the National Guard and Governor Hochul’s Five-Point Plan.

#NewYorkNY #NY #InjusticeSystem #NYCAP

Brooklyn, NY – A dozen people gathered at Barclays Center on a dreary Sunday afternoon of February 11 to protest the New York Police Department and stand in solidarity with Palestine.

The action was called by the New York Community Action Project (NYCAP) and NYU Students for a Democratic Society. The rally was part of a week of action called by US Palestinian Community Network, the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, and Students for a Democratic Society.

NYCAP decided to target the Israeli Defense Forces due to the intense collaboration with the NYPD. The NYPD has an office in Kfar Saba and talks about working closely with the Israeli forces. The NYPD has also adapted many tactics from the Israeli Defense Forces and used their technology.

Briony Smith from NYCAP opened the rally and said at the end of the day they only want Palestine to win and “we won’t settle for anything less than that.”

Speakers and endorsers included: Al-Awda, Anakbayan Queens, For Our Liberation, Rasanbleman Pou Ayiti, Struggle La Lucha, Workers World Party.

NYCAP and the organizers will continue to join the chorus of voices around the world demanding a free Palestine and an end to all U.S. aid to Israel.

#NewYorkNY #AntiWarMovement #International #Palestine #NYCAP #MiddleEast #SDS #WeekOfAction4Palestine #USPCN #NAARPR

New York, NY – On the afternoon of October 9, thousands gathered outside the Israeli Consulate on 43rd Street and 2nd Avenue to stand in solidarity with the brave people of Palestine. This was the second rally in two days, as the previous day several thousand gathered in Times Square.

The rally began in front of the Israeli Consulate General with fiery chants and speeches. The emcees loudly shouted, “We don’t want two-states, we want ‘48!”, and the crowd matched the militant energy.

Despite the inordinate number of NYPD officers, the march took the thousands of protesters throughout New York City’s East Side until they ended at the United Nations. Spirits were high, the chants were loud, and the energy was militant.

This action was called by Within Our Lifetime, Samidoun, CUNY Law Students for Justice In Palestine, Existence is Resistance, Decolonize this Place, and CunyForPalestine.

Organizational members of the International League of People’s Struggles attended the action as a contingent of over 50 people. Organizations included: Bayan USA, Malaya Movement, AnakBayan, Bronx and Brooklyn Boricua Resistance, and the New York Community Action Project.

Organizers and protesters alike are ready to continue marching for Palestine as the heroic resistance fighters face up against Zionism, Israel and U.S. imperialism.

#NewYorkNY #Palestine #NYCAP #ILPS #Samidoun