Sean Duffy, the Transportation Secretary, engaged in an online discussion with New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) following a situation where Grand Central Station was overtaken by a group protesting against Israel.
The protest was led by Within Our Lifetime (WOL) on Monday night in the main concourse of the train station. Interestingly, this demonstration coincided with a visit from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House.
Anti-Israel activists protest in Grand Central Station on April 7, 2025. (Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images)
During the protest, WOL founder Nerdeen Kiswani revealed in a social media post that the NYPD had closed off multiple entrances at Grand Central, resulting in a temporary standstill in the heart of New York City.
Kiswani also detailed the group’s history of demonstrating in Grand Central, saying that in the past they did not need permits or arrests and that there were “no lockdowns.”
In response to the MTA’s “fact check,” Duffy wrote, “Service was not affected? Tell that to the Jewish Americans who feared for their lives while this went on. This is why no one trusts the MTA to keep them safe anymore.”
Duffy also called on the MTA to condemn the “antisemitic mob,” adding that not doing so was “enabling this harassment.”
Anti-Israel activists demonstrate in Grand Central Station on April 7, 2025. (Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Grand Central Station, New York City’s iconic train station, has seen a host of anti-Israel protests since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023.
On Oct. 27, 2023, just 20 days after Hamas’ massacre, anti-Israel protesters flooded Grand Central, forcing it to shut down. The demonstrators were demanding a ceasefire and unfurled a banner that read, “mourn for the dead, and fight like hell for the living.”
“It’s disappointing that this group elected to stage a protest that interfered with New Yorkers getting home from work and otherwise going about their business,” the MTA wrote in a statement on Oct. 27, 2023.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Transportation Department and the MTA regarding the exchange and the protest that took place on April 7, 2025.
