Over 100 arrested, including locals politicians, at NYC Netanyahu protest outside United Nations

Julian Roberts-Grmela, Kerry Burke, Colin Mixson and Roni Jacobson, New York Daily News on Sep 24, 2026

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NEW YORK — More than 100 people, including several celebrities and local elected officials, were arrested at protests against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of his scheduled speech before the U.N. General Assembly in Midtown Manhattan Thursday, police said.

City Councilman Chi Osse and Councilwoman Alexa Aviles were among the dozens taken into NYPD custody around 1 p.m. at First Avenue and East 39th Street, according to police. An NYPD spokesperson said there were over 100 arrests.

Also taken into custody were Mamdani-ally and congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier, whistleblower Chelsea Manning and actors Susan Sarandon and Hannah Einbinder. Actor Elliot Page was also seen blocking traffic.

Before his arrest, Osse called Netanyahu a “demon” who should be “held accountable for his crimes.”

“We’re standing against war. Stop the genocide. U.S. dollars for health care, for housing, for education. Not for bombing children,” Avila said to reporters as she was led away in handcuffs. “We say no to Netanyahu. No war criminals in New York City.”

A second protest Thursday afternoon organized by the Palestinian Youth Movement saw about 2,000 activists snake their way from the steps of the New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue to Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza outside Trump World Tower at First Avenue and 47th Street.

“This highlights the pain and suffering of the Palestinian people, especially the women and children of Gaza,” Roosevelt Island resident Muhammad Ruiz, 47, said of the war in Iran. “It shows our nation’s government doesn’t care about what Americans think. The vast majority of Americans don’t approve of our tax dollars going to fight foreign wars, especially when they’re killing and starving innocent women and children.”

Along the way, protesters chanting “Free Palestine” and “Arrest war criminal Bibi Netanyahu” skirmished with trump supporters wearing MAGA hats and waving trump banners, but the police broke up several shoving matches that broke out without making arrests.

At Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza, a 10-foot-tall paper machete “BiBi” Netanyahu dressed in prison stripes was unexpectedly set aflame, with fire creeping up the effigy’s feet before it was put out.

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said earlier in the week that police anticipated numerous demonstrations against Netanyahu, who has been accused of war crimes by the International Criminal Court for his government’s actions against Palestinians in Gaza.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a fierce critic of Netanyahu who has called him a war criminal and previously threatened to arrest him if he set foot in New York City before ultimately backpedaling, has said he will not join in the protests but encouraged New Yorkers to express themselves through peaceful demonstrations.

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