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NEW YORK — Hundreds of protesters on Friday staged a sit-in at the Manhattan building that houses offices of both of New York’s U.S. senators, prompting dozens of arrests, including those of a state assembly member and a city councilor.
The protest, organized by Jewish Voice for Peace, came after both Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand voted against proposals to block a massive arms transfer to Israel — though dozens of their Democratic colleagues joined Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in his effort to block the arms sale, a significant milestone.
“Less than 36 hours ago, the Senate voted and we saw three-quarters of them refuse to take action to block the sale of arms that would address the starvation crisis,” said Jay Saper, an organizer with Jewish Voice for Peace, who called the senators’ vote against the measure “outrageous.”
“The only way that can address the starvation crisis is if we stop sending the bombs that Israel is continuing to drop on Gaza,” Saper said.
Neither senator’s office immediately returned a request for comment Friday.
Anadolu via Getty Images
A little after 12 p.m. Friday, hundreds of protesters wearing “Stop Starving Gaza” and “Jews Say Let Gaza Live” T-shirts swarmed the lobby of 780 Third Ave., where both Schumer and Gillibrand have offices. There, they banged on pots and pans and chanted, “Never again for anyone, never again is now” and “Not in our name, not on our dime, no more money for Israel’s crimes.”
Within an hour, police arrived at the scene and warned protesters they faced arrest if they continued occupying the building’s lobby. Members of the press were also told to leave the building. Most protesters left at this point, though a few dozen remained behind and were arrested. Fifty people were arrested as part of the protest, according to Eliza Klein of Jewish Voice for Peace.
Among those detained by police were State Assembly Member Claire Valdez and New York City Council Member Tiffany Cabán.
Here is footage of NY State Assembly Member Claire Valdez and NYC Council Member Tiffany Cabán being arrested from inside the building housing Sens. Schumer and Gillibrand's NYC offices, ~1:35pm. Cabán's was "demanding that Israel stops starving Gaza," her office told me.
— Matt Shuham (@mattshuham.bsky.social) 2025-08-01T19:54:55.563ZCabán’s office confirmed her arrest and said in a statement she participated in the action to demand “that Israel stops starving Gaza.”
“Senators Schumer and Gillibrand must stop financing this genocide,” the statement continued.
“Children are starving to death because Israel is using starvation as a weapon — starving the remaining hostages alongside the people of Gaza. 92% of homes in Gaza have been severely damaged by Israeli assaults. 90% of the people of Gaza have been displaced. Hospitals and healthcare infrastructure have been bombed and destroyed by Israel. Israeli attacks in Gaza have created the highest rate of child amputees in the world. Israel is blocking food, medicine, and baby formula from entering Gaza. Israel is systematically destroying Palestinian life and society. And Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand are writing the checks. Never again is now.”
Anadolu via Getty Images
The elected officials were arrested on charges of trespassing and failure to disperse, though both were subsequently released from police custody, Valdez’s communications director Erica Landau said in an email shortly after 5 p.m. ET.
“Israel is starving two million people in Gaza with the full backing of the United States government, including both of New York’s senators,” Valdez said in a statement. “That is shameful. I participated in today’s action with Jewish Voice for Peace because we should all be in the streets demanding our leaders stop these atrocities. There is no time; lift the siege, end the blockade, and let aid into Gaza.”
As a result of dramatic Israeli restrictions on aid entering Gaza, doctors and aid groups are ringing alarm bells over what they say could become thousands of otherwise preventable deaths due to malnutrition. Dozens of Gazans died of malnutrition in July, according to Palestinian officials, and since May over 1,000 Gazans have been killed by Israeli forces while seeking food aid, the United Nations human rights office has reported. The Palestinian death toll in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, topped 60,000 on Tuesday, according to Palestinian officials, but that figure is widely considered to be a dramatic undercount. Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel killed some 1,200 people, according to Israeli officials.
Nas Issa, a member of the Palestinian Youth Movement, was among the protesters on Friday. Issa called for an international embargo on Israel, covering arms and energy transfers — “until Israel not only allows aid in, but also allows the people in Gaza to live in dignity, to reconstruct their homes.”
“We’ve seen over the past two years that Israel will not stop until it is stopped,” Issa said. “And it won’t be stopped until it encounters real consequences for having engineered a genocide, and now, a catastrophic famine in Gaza.”
Anadolu via Getty Images
Also among the protesters — though they left the building lobby before arrests began — were New York City Council Members Jennifer Gutiérrez and Alexa Avilés.
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“We don’t want our tax dollars to be used to harm, and kill, children and families,” Avilés told HuffPost. “We want people to live with dignity. We want Palestinians to live with dignity. We want an end to this war, this genocide.”
“As a mom with two kids, I can’t continue to just hope that things are going to get better, hope that a ceasefire will solve all of it,” Gutiérrez said. “While we’re continuing to add money to Israel’s fight, this is going to continue, and we are going to be responsible for a genocide. The people that are here are great, and I’m hoping that folks in the Democratic Party are going to join us, for this tide of moral clarity. We’re going to be responsible for it. I need to tell a different story to my kids.”
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