Campus Alert Archive
CCNY

A Phoned-In Threat Emptied CCNY's Harlem Campus the Day Before Thanksgiving Break

NYthreat of violenceemergency notificationhigh confidence
Under Investigation

On November 21, 2023, the City College of New York closed its Harlem campus at about 1 p.m. EST after receiving a phone call threatening an act of violence on campus at a specific time. CCNY emailed students and staff to leave immediately, and the campus was cleared out of an abundance of caution. The threat did not target any specific individual or group.

Alerts
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Response
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Killed
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Institution
The City College of New York
Public Masters · NY
CUNY Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

1 message in sequence · 1 verified verbatim

INITIAL ALERTEmail
Verified verbatimPIX11 coverage of November 21, 2023 CCNY campus closure, quoting the full closure email verbatim; confirmed by Fox 5 New York and HarlemView student publication315 chars
Due to a threat to the City College campus, and out of an abundance of caution, CCNY will close today, Tuesday, November 21st at 1 PM. If you are on campus, please depart the campus promptly. If you have not arrived on campus yet, please do not come to the campus, and please note that all buildings will be closed.
PIX11, Fox 5 New York, and HarlemView all quoted this closure email verbatim: 'Due to a threat to the City College campus, and out of an abundance of caution, CCNY will close today, Tuesday, November 21st at 1 PM. If you are on campus, please depart the campus promptly. If you have not arrived on campus yet, please do not come to the campus, and please note that all buildings will be closed.'
The college received a phone call threatening violence at a specific time without targeting any specific individual or group, per The Campus and HarlemView reporting.
The closure email was distributed approximately 1:00 PM EST on November 21, 2023 — the Tuesday before Thanksgiving — and the CCNY President's Office also published a 'Closing Early' post at ccny.cuny.edu/presidentsoffice/blog/closing-early with the same message.
Context

Background

The City College of New York is the flagship campus of the CUNY system and a federally designated Hispanic-Serving Institution serving a heavily first-generation, immigrant, and minority student body in Harlem. On November 21, 2023 — the Tuesday before Thanksgiving break — CCNY closed its campus at about 1 p.m. EST after a caller threatened to commit an act of violence at a specific time. The college emailed everyone to leave immediately, and the student newspaper, The Campus, covered the threat and closure. The episode came amid a period of heightened anxiety at CCNY, which had separately dealt with a student's threat to 'shoot up' the school in late 2022. The CCNY closure illustrates how an urban HSI weighs a non-specific phoned-in threat against the cost of clearing an entire commuter campus.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    Unspecified threat prompts City College of NY to close - Inside Higher Ed
    insidehighered.com
  2. News
    Shooting Threat Shuts Down CUNY City College Campus - Patch
    patch.com
  3. Student Paper
    Campus Reacts to Threat and Closure of Campus - HarlemView
    harlemview.com
  4. News
    City College of New York closes early after threat made to campus - FOX 5 New York
    fox5ny.com
  5. News
    CUNY City College campus closes for the rest of the day over threat - PIX11
    pix11.com
  6. Official
    Closing Early - The City College of New York (President's Office)
    ccny.cuny.edu
Tags
threat-of-violencecampus-closureevacuationhispanic-serving-institutionhsicunynew-yorkharlememergency-notificationUnder Investigation
Added May 2026Updated June 2026Via ingestion