The New York Public Library is facing up to $75,000 in cleaning costs following recent pro-Palestinian protests in which demonstrators stained the famous façade of its iconic Manhattan building with blood-red handprints.
The library’s flagship Stephen A. Schwarzman building in Midtown was so defaced during the protests that some of its carved marble reliefs may need to be replaced, officials said.
“On Thanksgiving Day, protestors committed a disgraceful act of vandalism at the Library’s flagship Stephen A. Schwarzman building, a space dedicated to the open exchange of ideas and intellectual debate,” the spokeswoman said. the library, Jennifer Fermino, to the Washington Post.
“This comes at a time when the city’s libraries are facing steep budget cuts that have left us unable to maintain our current levels of service, and this vandalism will be costly to repair.”
The library has been targeted by vandals several times in recent weeks during three separate pro-Palestinian protests, but the damage suffered Thursday was “the most expensive and extensive,” Fermino told The Post.
“It’s too early to say the costs to repair the damage, but the repair costs for everyone could be between $60,000 and $75,000.”
Much of the damage occurred Thursday after hundreds of protesters disrupted the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, wearing white jumpsuits and drenching themselves in fake blood, some gluing their hands to the street in the middle of Sixth Avenue.
Pro-Palestinian protesters on Thursday smeared the New York Public Library’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building with graffiti, covering it with red handprints and scrawling “Free Palestine” in dark green spray paint. @AvivaKlompas/Twitter
After the parade, some of the protesters headed to the library’s Fifth Avenue entrance, where they smashed the marble bases of the building’s iconic columns and scrawled the words “Free Palestine” in dark green spray paint on the flagship building.
Some of the graffiti covered delicately carved parts of the structure, which will be difficult to clean without causing further damage, requiring multiple applications of solvent over several days, Garrett Bergen, the library’s director of facilities, told Gothamist.
The library’s display boards were also vandalized with green and red paint, two of the colors of the Palestinian flag. Freedomnews.tv via @goLoko77/Twitter Pro-Palestinian protesters marched through Manhattan during rush hour.ZUMAPRESS.com
“We may have to replace certain elements if a rosette is too damaged to remove the paint. So it’s not clear,” Bergen said.
Close-up images of the damage show thick red paint pooling at the base of the column support and dripping down the steps of the library, which is facing budget cuts by the Adams administration.
The building that suffered the brunt of the vandalism is named for Stephen A. Schwarzman, a wealthy Jewish businessman and philanthropist who donated $100 million toward the library’s expansion in 2008.
Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the library on November 17 calling on Israel to end its military campaign that began on October 7 after a surprise rocket attack that killed 1,200 Israelis. Jeenah Moon
In total, at least 34 protesters were arrested Thursday, charged with crimes ranging from disorderly conduct and resisting arrest to harassment, police said.
It was not immediately known how many of the arrests took place outside the library, which was closed for the holiday.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn