April 5, 2024
Tenant activists mobilized on Thursday in Midtown. About 200 people carried signs, beat on drums, and chanted slogans in front of 570 Lexington Avenue, location of REBNY, the real estate association. After playing a recorded announcement ordering them to disperse or face arrest, about a dozen activists were cuffed with plastic zips and taken away in 2 NYPD vans. Among those arrested was Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.
“This is the New York City Police Department. You are unlawfully obstructing pedestrian traffic. You are ordered to disperse now to permit the safe flow of pedestrian traffic. If you do so voluntarily no charges will be placed against you. If you refuse to disperse you will be placed under arrest and charged with disorderly conduct.”
Police arrested around a dozen housing activists.
