On the fifth day of the City College of New York’s “Gaza Solidarity Encampment,” and hours after students allegedly breached an academic building, New York Police Department officers swept the encampment, resulting in the arrests of at least 173 protesters at CCNY.

The New York Police Department and Mayor Eric Adams announced at a Tuesday evening press conference that the police have not received University authorization to enter Columbia’s campus as protesters continue to occupy Hamilton Hall.

Around an hour after the New York Police Department said it would sweep the City College of the City University of New York’s “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” on Thursday, pro-Palestinian demonstrators protected a fellow protester who had allegedly been confronted by City College public safety officers. The pro-Palestinian students and affiliates pushed the officers off of the encampment ground in just minutes. The group then chanted “We will stay,” and “The students united will never be defeated.”

Two individuals were taken into custody before 12:30 p.m. on Monday during the fourth day of community-organized protests on 115th Street and Broadway. The individuals were released with summonses for disorderly conduct later in the afternoon. Witnesses to the detainments said those taken into custody were acting peacefully and playing music.

Over 50 people congregated on Sunday in front of the 115th Street and Broadway entrance to “stand with students and a liberated Palestine” following three protests that drew around 150 people outside of Columbia’s campus along Broadway on Saturday.

A multifaith coalition of 20 religious leaders hand-delivered on Monday letters from over 60 faith-based groups in New York City to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Sen. Chuck Schumer, Rep. Adriano Espaillat, and other government representatives demanding “a permanent ceasefire, an end to Israel’s blockade on humanitarian aid into Gaza, and the safe return of all hostages.” The coalition included the leaders of the Riverside Church in the City of New York and the Church of the Ascension.

The Morningside Heights Community Coalition sent on Feb. 21 a formal request to meet with University President Minouche Shafik regarding its request for the University to include designated affordable housing for nonaffiliates in the 600 W. 125th St. property and future Columbia construction projects.

After months of delay, the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development and the Department of Social Services announced in December 2023 the “Unlocking Doors” pilot program. The program aims to address the ongoing homelessness crisis in New York City while connecting CityFHEPS voucher holders with newly renovated rent-stabilized apartments.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is displaying “The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism” beginning on Feb. 25 until July 28, featuring some 160 works by artists of the Harlem Renaissance and specific portrayals of modern Black subjects by other visual artists.