NEW YORK — The New York City Council on Tuesday passed a law meant to protect schools from protests, part of legislators’ broader plan to combat antisemitism in the city.

The law requires the New York Police Department to release a “transparency report” on police plans, such as establishing security perimeters, to prevent physical obstruction, injuries, intimidation and interference at schools.

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch must submit an initial report to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin within 45 days, and a final report within 90 days. The report will be made public on the NYPD website.

The law covers childcare facilities, elementary schools, middle schools, junior high schools and nonpublic high schools.

The measure does not cover universities, where protests are far more prevalent, though. It also does not cover educational programs housed in worker training facilities, museums, libraries and teaching hospitals.

Mamdani had vetoed the proposal in April, citing its inclusion of colleges, but the amended measure passed by a veto-proof majority.

The police transparency report will include NYPD plans for deciding on whether security perimeters are needed to protect school entrances and exits, how the perimeters will be set up, and plans to engage with educators and the public.

New York City Councilmember Eric Dinowitz, the chair of the Jewish caucus and co-chair of the Bipartisan Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, was one of the bill’s two lead sponsors.

The law is the latest in a series of so-called “buffer zone” measures proposed in New York in the past year in response to caustic anti-Zionist protests.

New York City and the state government passed laws meant to protect houses of worship earlier this year.

The state’s law established 50-foot protected areas around the entrances to places of religious worship and made interference with access to a place of worship a Class B misdemeanor.

The city’s laws to protect schools and places of worship did not establish criminal........

© The Times of Israel