Queens Councilwoman Tiffany Caban and Queens Assemblywoman Claire Valdez were among dozens of protesters arrested Friday at a pro-Palestinian demonstration at the Manhattan offices of New York Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, according to city and police officials.
The demonstration, organized by the Jewish Voice for Peace organization, was held to protest Schumer and Gillibrand for recently voting against a measure that would halt U.S. arms shipments to Israel amid the war in Gaza. Their votes came as Israel — which is waging a war to eradicate Hamas in retaliation for the terrorist group’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack — has faced international condemnation for blocking critical aid, like food and medicine, from getting into Gaza, where the United Nations say starvation, especially among children, is becoming widespread.
Caban got her hands zip-tied before being escorted onto a decommissioned MTA bus with other protesters after refusing calls from NYPD officers to disperse from the lobby of the senators’ office building on Third Ave., Caban’s spokeswoman, Arden Dressner Levy, confirmed.
People protesting with Jewish Voices for Peace occupy the lobby of Sen. Chuck Schumer’s office in Manhattan Friday, Aug. 1, 2025. (Barry Williams/New York Daily News)
Levy said Caban, a democratic socialist who represents western Queens in the City Council, was taken into custody for “participating in civil disobedience” to demand that “Israel stop starving Gaza.”
“Israeli attacks in Gaza have created the highest rate of child amputees in the world,” Levy said. “Israel is blocking food, medicine and baby formula from entering Gaza. Israel is systematically destroying Palestinian life and society, and Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand are writing the checks. Never again is now.”
NYPD officers arrest people protesting with Jewish Voices for Peace occupying the lobby to U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer Office In Manhattan Friday. (Barry Williams/New York Daily News)
Valdez, a fellow democratic socialist who also reps western Queens, was also put in zip ties after being arrested.
While being led onto the bus, Valdez told reporters the U.S. and Israel must stop “starving Gaza.”
“Any politician who’s not doing something about it is failing New Yorkers,” she said.
Actor Sara Ramirez occupies the lobby of U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer’s office, along with people protesting with Jewish Voices for Peace, in Manhattan Friday, Aug. 1, 2025. (Barry Williams/New York Daily News)
Before the arrests, protesters chanted pro-Palestinian slogans and banged loudly on pots for about 45 minutes. The two Queens politicians sat on the lobby floor chanting with the other protesters, as cops lingered at the back of the lobby.
After nearly 45 minutes, police officers announced that the protesters had to leave. After another 45, the arrests began.
The protesters who left when warned, including City Council members Jennifer Gutierrez and Alexa Avilés, remained outside chanting throughout the arrests.
According to Jewish Voice for Peace, there were about 200 protesters and nearly 50 arrests.
“Children are dying or being starved,” Gutierrez said. “And this is all constructed by us, and we’re supporting it, and we’re paying for it, and children are dying. This is something that has gone far more beyond a land dispute, and we’re supporting it, we’re paying for it. So we’re here.”
“When you look at what’s happening to the children and families in Gaza, arrest is nothing compared to what is happening there,” Avilés said. “It didn’t even cross my mind. I know New Yorkers are heartbroken. Americans are heartbroken. This is not what we should be using our dollars for. We want an end to the war. We want peace. We want people to be able to live with dignity. Obviously, it’s all of it. It’s return of the hostages, an end to the war. It’s all of it. It’s not one group or another, but it’s using our taxpayer dollars for good.”
Neither Schumer nor Gillibrand were at their offices at the time of the arrests.
In a statement, Schumer said, “The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is heartbreaking and unacceptable. That’s why I have repeatedly called on the Trump administration and the Netanyahu government to urgently and immediately surge the delivery of food, services and humanitarian assistance to innocent Palestinians in Gaza, and I won’t rest until we see real change.”
A representative for Gillibrand did not immediately return requests for comment.
Originally Published: August 1, 2025 at 2:42 PM EDT