At the least 4 activists had been arrested outdoors the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York Metropolis on Wednesday morning, September 17, whereas forming a blockade in protest of two tenants they are saying are profiteering from Israel’s violence towards Palestinians.
Tucked within the Brooklyn Navy Yard advanced (BNY), a gaggle of city-owned buildings the place tenants pay no actual property taxes, the surveillance drone producer Simple Aerial is listed as a “High-quality Artwork/Pictures” enterprise. The corporate has ties to each the Israeli army and america Division of Homeland Safety. Not distant, Crye Precision, a textile producer that has allegedly provided attire for the Israeli army — a declare the corporate denies — carries the label “Style/Equipment” on the BNY’s web site.
Over the past yr, activists, neighborhood members, and, most not too long ago, one state senator have known as upon the BNY to evict Simple Aerial and Crye Precision. As we speak, throughout a board assembly held by the nonprofit improvement company that oversees the BNY, dozens of demonstrators of all ages shaped a circle in entrance of the property, holding protest indicators accusing the 2 corporations of supporting Israel’s genocide in Gaza, as characterised by a United Nations fee on Monday.
Whereas a gaggle of organizers led a press convention, demonstrators shaped a blockade at an entrance to the yard’s Constructing 77. When Hyperallergic arrived, 4 people had been being zip-tied and loaded right into a New York Police Division (NYPD) van, the place protesters stood face-to-face with cops.
Activists later posted a video of an extra protester being tackled by the NYPD and claimed {that a} press photographer was “severely assaulted” by somebody affiliated with the BNY.
NYPD declined to touch upon the variety of arrests, however mentioned that 10 individuals chained themselves to a fence. No prices have been filed towards the alleged assailant, in response to the NYPD. A BNY spokesperson mentioned that the person accountable was arrested and that their entry to the property has been revoked.
On BNY’s web site, 63 companies are categorized as “High-quality Artwork/Pictures,” nearly all of that are respectable galleries and artists’ studios. The Pratt Institute, as an illustration, operates a 20,000-square-foot analysis campus for digital archaeology, robotics, and different disciplines throughout the BNY.
In response to Hyperallergic’s inquiries concerning the protesters’ calls for, a consultant for BNY mentioned that its web site “broadly categorizes tenants based mostly on what they produce,” noting that Simple Aerial “manufactures a drone-mounted digital camera” and that Crye produces several types of clothes, together with surgical robes.
“Leases are binding authorized agreements. Evictions solely happen when tenants violate the phrases of such agreements and have to be authorized by a sound courtroom order,” the spokesperson mentioned. “Lease phrases deal with monetary obligations (i.e., hire), obligations as to compliance with legal guidelines, permitted makes use of, upkeep of premises, and many others., however don’t regulate explicit enterprise actions nor their alternative of shoppers.”
Maisha Morales, a neighborhood advocate concerned in native politics who resides in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene neighborhood, advised Hyperallergic at as we speak’s protest that the classification of Simple Aerial as a “effective artwork” enterprise was “an insult to our intelligence.”
“How dare you? This isn’t effective arts,” Morales mentioned.
Morales, who mentioned she has beforehand testified earlier than the event company board in help of evicting the 2 corporations, opined that their tenancy betrays her perceived mission of the BNY as offering alternatives for working-class New Yorkers. As a result of the BNY is a Certified Alternative Zone, companies could also be eligible to defer taxes on capital beneficial properties via 2026.
“I can’t management what occurs with my federal tax {dollars}, proper? However I can management what occurs with my native tax {dollars},” Morales mentioned.
For weeks, Hyperallergic has adopted members of the group Demilitarize Brooklyn Navy Yard, a coalition of activists and neighborhood members demanding that the public-owned constructing evict Simple Aerial and Crye Precision. The group gathers on the BNY for normal demonstrations, blaring horns and chanting into megaphones throughout rush hour site visitors on Flushing Avenue.
Simple Aerial, headquartered within the yard’s Constructing 77, manufactures military-grade autonomous surveillance drones which, in response to the corporate’s promotional supplies, have been deployed at Israeli border posts. In a June 2021 promotional video, a commander within the Israeli army’s “Gaza Division” defined how she makes use of Simple Aerial’s drone to coordinate with snipers on the bottom to “fireplace.” The corporate has collaborated with Elbit Techniques, Israel’s largest protection agency.
In line with the Wall Avenue Journal, the corporate has additionally bought drones which have been utilized in Tzur Hadassah, which borders the Occupied West Financial institution, to surveil “intruders from a neighboring Palestinian village.”
On the primary anniversary of October 7 in 2024, Simple Aerial mentioned on LinkedIn that it was “proud to have performed a job in supporting Israel’s protection forces” and that its applied sciences had enhanced the “surveillance, safety, and help” of Israeli communities.
The US Division of Homeland Safety has additionally funded the drone producer via an Israel-US program. This summer time, the company forecasted a $1–2 million contract between the US Border Patrol and Simple Aerial for “inhibiting menace migration.”
Simple Aerial has not but responded to a number of requests for remark, however has beforehand characterised its merchandise as defensive and has claimed that protesters are misguided.
Crye Precision was based in 2000 by Cooper Union alumni Caleb Crye and Gregg Thompson. In an announcement to Hyperallergic, a consultant for the corporate denied having any contracts with Israeli producers or the army and known as the Brooklyn activists’ claims “false and deceptive.” Federal courtroom paperwork filed by an lawyer on behalf of the corporate for an unrelated matter in 2023, nonetheless, contained an admission that the corporate’s copyrighted camouflage design was “adopted to be used by all or parts of the armed forces” of nations together with Israel and america. Crye denied that the assertion within the federal courtroom submitting was true and couldn’t “account for why it’s in that textual content.”
Crye Precision’s web site additionally lists Agilite, a producer of tactical gear for the Israeli army, as one of many corporations that licenses its MultiCam® camouflage sample.
“Crye Precision doesn’t promote weapons or drones, nor do we now have any contracts with the Israel Protection Forces (IDF) or any Israeli producers,” the spokesperson mentioned.
New York State Senator Jabari Brisport, who represents the twenty fifth District, the place the BNY is positioned, attended the press convention in help of the activists this morning.
Brisport advised Hyperallergic that he’s seen an “openness” amongst BNY management to vary the “High-quality Artwork” and “Style” designations of the companies, however that his final objective is eviction.
“We’ve got two companies right here which can be complicit within the genocide,” Brisport advised Hyperallergic. “That is one thing we will do domestically and plug into, particularly at a time when individuals really feel like their nationwide leaders will not be listening to them in any respect on Israel.”
Activists deliberate to enter public remark within the assembly as we speak; nonetheless, on Tuesday evening, BNY Growth Company Lindsay Greene advised activists in an e mail reviewed by Hyperallergic that there can be no public feedback allowed.
When members of the press and organizers arrived on the yard this morning, credentialed reporters had been denied entry to the Constructing 92 courtyard, the place the assembly was occurring inside. A spokesperson for BNY advised Hyperallergic that the constructing courtyard was closed for “safety causes.”
Outdoors the gates, one protester held a toddler of their arms.
“At this second, there are infants like my child, like this child proper right here, the identical precise dimension, who’re being blown up,” the protester advised a crowd of reporters. “They don’t need to be accountable to the infants and youngsters of Gaza, they usually don’t need to be accountable to the Black and Brown households in New York Metropolis.”
