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On the morning of February 11, the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation (BNYDC), a non-profit landlord responsible for developing the Brooklyn Navy Yard, convened a closed-doors meeting. One item of business concerned the lease of Easy Aerial, an AI drone manufacturer with material ties to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Israeli military, and one of 550 businesses housed inside of the city-owned industrial hub.

Meanwhile, 30 community members with the grassroots campaign Demilitarize Brooklyn Navy Yard (DBNY) occupied the lobby of Navy Yard Building 77, where Easy Aerial is headquartered. “We arrived with noisemakers and drums; we chanted and gave speeches,” said Leila Rafiq, a DBNY organizer using a pseudonym to protect her privacy. Outside, dozens of additional protesters picketed the building entrance.

In September 2024, DBNY launched publicly with a clear and enticing thesis. “A militant, consistent, and organized group that employs a multiplicity of tactics can win,” said Rafiq. After an intensive research process, the campaign landed on two primary targets: Easy Aerial and Crye Precision, a tactical gear manufacturer. What started as a small group of committed organizers now involves many community members, Navy Yard tenants and workers, students, and neighbors, all with different roles and levels of engagement.

Unlike other segments of the New York City Palestine Solidarity Movement, which revolve around sporadic mass mobilizations, Rafiq contends that DBNY is showing an alternative pathway: hyper-local organizing targeting suppliers of genocide.

Easy Aerial drones are used by both U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) at the U.S.-Mexico border, and by the Israeli military at the Israel-Gaza border.

Easy Aerial drones are used by both U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) at the U.S.-Mexico border, and by the Israeli military at the Israel-Gaza border.

During the DBNY occupation, news broke that BNYDC had made a decision about Easy Aerial: the drone company would no longer be welcome in the Navy Yard when their lease expires in May. Felicity Doyle, a Brooklynite who participated in the morning’s action, described feeling “utter disbelief,” at the news. “It was a small shred of hope,” she said.

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While BNYDC claims the non-renewal was “for business reasons,” Rafiq said that “What resulted in their eviction is pressuring them from so many different angles with consistency.”

Global and Local Implications

Alongside militant, disruptive tactics, DBNY also prioritizes community organizing. One effective communications approach has been emphasizing the global and local implications of the campaign. “This is about Palestine, but it’s also local because they’re supplying entities targeting migrants, Black and Brown people,” said Rafiq.

A 2022 Times of Israel article reported that Easy Aerial drones are used by both U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) at the U.S.-Mexico border, and by the Israeli military at the Israel-Gaza border. Since then, the Gaza genocide appears to have been good for business — in 2024, Easy Aerial’s co-founder and chief product officer, a former Israeli soldier, told Truthout about Israel’s “immediate need” for autonomous drones after October 7. The company contracts with Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer, supplying drones for Israeli ground and sea weapons systems. In August 2025, CBP solicited a $1-2........

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