New York City Mayor Eric Adams wants Columbia University and other private colleges to foot the bill for NYPD having to conduct massive operations to dismantle Gaza Camps.
Mayor Adams said the costly police operations could have been prevented had the universities established a "zero tolerance" policy for such behavior.
He then commended Fordham University for taking swift action to remove an anti-Israel Gaza encampment that emerged on campus before allowing it to escalate.
When asked whether Columbia should open its checkbook to pay for the operation, Mayor Adams told Fox 5: "We believe that they, too, should contribute to the cost."
"One way to prevent the costs from escalating is to have a zero tolerance. As soon as the tents go up, it comes down. Do not allow this to continue to expand," said Adams. "That is what we saw at Columbia University and that is what we saw at CUNY as well."
The world watched as NYPD officers suited up in tactical riot gear surrounded the premises of Columbia University to restore law and order to the campus that had been overtaken by anti-Israel rioters who had been protesting at the Gaza Camp, many of whom were not students or affiliated with the Ivy League university.
During the operation, police officers were seen breaching Hamilton Hall by way of a truck-mounted ladder. The hall had been seized by unruly protesters the night prior.
Additionally, NYPD was forced to respond to violent anti-Israel protests at City College of New York (CCNY) in Harlem, in which they were subjected to violence as the mob of agitators assaulted police officers.
The protests resulted in more than 280 arrests between Columbia and CCNY campuses.
Furthermore, New York City council members penned a scathing letter to Columbia University officials and demanded they pay for the operational procedures instead of Big Apple taxpayers, saying "Columbia created this mess" and the university can "certainly afford it."
"Columbia created this mess and Columbia – not New Yorkers – should pay to clean it up," the letter read, according to the New York Post.
"New York City has very real problems that must be prioritized," the letter continued. "Babysitting spoiled students, activist professors, and professional protestors on an Ivy League campus is not one of them."
Adding, "You certainly can afford it," noting the Ivy League University has $13.6 billion in endowments and tuition costs more than $68,000 a year.
