(Photo : KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty Images)
NYPD officers in riot gear pour into a building at Columbia University where pro-Palestinian students barricaded themselves inside on April 30. The department has spent $53 million on overtime costs since the protests began after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7.
The NYPD said it has spent more than $50 million on overtime pay as officers responded to the thousands of pro-Palestinian protests that have broken out across New York City since the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7, according to a report.
The $53 million is part of a $168 million expenditure for unplanned police overtime since last July, Gothamist reported.
NYPD officials told a City Council budget hearing Thursday that officers have racked up thousands of overtime hours because of the pro-Palestinian protests, with the department dishing out $5 million on OT between April 21 and May 7.
That includes the time when the NYPD broke up encampments on the campuses of Columbia University and the City College of New York.
Police officials defended the spending saying it was needed to quell the protests at the schools.
When NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban was asked by council members whether the schools would reimburse the department, NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Legal Matters Michael Gerber said that's an issue it is "exploring."
