UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Protestors and members of the NYPD's Strategic Response Unit clashed near a Lenox Hill synagogue Tuesday night in the chaotic aftermath of an Israeli real estate event.
The event, which was selling real estate in Israel and the West Bank, was at the Park East Synagogue on East 67th Street between Third Avenue and Lexington Avenue.
The pro-Palestinian protestors demonstrated at East 68th Street and Lexington Avenue in front of Hunter College, before heading down Lexington Avenue and turning onto East 66th Street.
The protestors attempted to breach the vast network of barricades keeping the streets clear at East 67th Street and Lexington Avenue, at which point police fired pepper spray into the crowd, hitting a few protestors and a Patch reporter.
"As Jews, we have a responsibility to speak out when this kind of thing is being done in our names," Jeremy, a protestor from Washington Heights, told Patch.
Ahead of the protest, Mayor Zohran Mamdani's spokesperson, Sam Raskin, told Patch that the mayor was against the real estate expo.
"Mayor Mamdani is deeply opposed to the real estate expo this evening that includes the promotion of the sale of land in settlements in the Occupied West Bank. These settlements are illegal under international law and deeply tied to the ongoing displacement of Palestinians," Sam Raskin, a spokesperson for Mayor Zohran Mamdani, told Patch.
"Our administration has also been clear that we are committed to ensuring safe entry and exit from any house of worship, and that such access never be in question while all protesters are able to exercise their First Amendment rights," Raskin said.
A similar protest in November, also organized by PAL-AWDA outside of Park East, led to the City Council passing a bill sponsored by Upper East Side Councilmember Julie Menin to create security perimeters for protests outside houses of worship. The bill was passed earlier this month, but hasn't formally taken effect yet.
Police haven't confirmed yet whether any arrests were made.
For questions, email Miranda.Levingston@Patch.com.
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