Outrage as pro-Palestinian protestors deface New York Public Library in 'shameful act of vandalism'

MANHATTAN, NEW YORK: A wave of outrage sparked after the New York Public Library was vandalized by a group of pro-Palestinian protesters who also disrupted the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

On November 23, demonstrators defaced the library’s flagship Stephen A Schwarzman building in Midtown, smearing it with blood-red handprints and spray-painting "free Palestine" beneath the pillars in a dark green color.

Officials stated that clean-up might cost $75,000 as some of the carved marble reliefs in the building need to be replaced due to extreme vandalism during the protests.

“On Thanksgiving, individuals involved in a protest engaged in a shameful act of vandalism to the Library’s flagship Stephen A. Schwarzman building, a space devoted to the open exchange of ideas and intellectual debate,” library spokeswoman Jennifer Fermino told 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 statement.

Why NYC public library is on demonstrators’ target?

The library has suffered damage from vandals on many occasions in the past few weeks during three different pro-Palestinian demonstrations, but Fermino told The Post that Thursday's damage was "the most costly and extensive."

“It is too early to say the costs of fixing the damages but the repair costs for all could be between 60K and 75K,” he said.

A large portion of the damage was caused after hundreds of demonstrators disrupted the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade by gluing their hands to the pavement in the center of Sixth Avenue.

They donned white jumpsuits and doused themselves in fake blood. Following the procession, a few protestors proceeded to the library's Fifth Avenue entrance, where they sprayed the words "free Palestine" in dark green spray paint on the main building and damaged the marble bases of the structure's recognizable columns.

Garrett Bergen, the library's director of facilities, told Gothamist that some of the graffiti-covered intricately carved areas of the building.

These areas will be challenging to clean without damaging further, necessitating repeated solvent treatments spread over several days.

“We could have to replace certain elements if a rosette is too damaged for the paint to be removed. So it’s a little unclear,” Bergen said.

Close-up photos of the damage reveal thick red paint accumulating at the foot of the column support and trickling down the library's steps, according to the NY Post.

Internet reacts to extreme vandalism

The images of the extreme vandalism have received immense social media attention, with users voicing their protest to arrest the demonstrators.

“Find the people who did this and make them clean it up!” one user said. “Disgusting. These people hate America but they come here,” another user slammed.

While one user fumed, “American taxpayers are going to have to pay for anti-American protests,” another wrote “They are not pro-Palestinian. They are antisemites and criminals. If they cared about Palestinians they would have been raising money for them all these years… they haven’t.”

“Why can’t they penalize people that are there like when people/cars do side shows,” a user stated.

One more suggested, “We need to take them under arrest and let them clean up after themselves, and this money will go to feed the children of the Gaza Strip."

“I think they should leave it. Let the people see who the Palestinians and their supporters are,” another one wrote.