Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Union Square on Monday and marched to Washington Square Park protesting President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, the largest backer of his campaign and the wealthiest man in the world. The Silicon Valley financier is also head of the temporary government agency called the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has wreaked havoc on the functioning of the federal government, illegally withholding congressionally-approved funds and laying off workers across the board, from the Department of Education to the USAID. The protests are part of a network of demonstrations against the Trump administration through an online movement called 50501 (50 protests, 50 states, 1 day), with other large actions taking place nationwide, from Los Angeles to Boston.
New York City finds itself unusually tied to the chaos in Washington D.C., as Trump’s Justice Department recently dropped its federal corruption case against Mayor Eric Adams, saying that his cooperation on Trump’s plan to deport more than 10 million undocumented migrants was too important for him to be “unduly restricted” by his upcoming trial, which would have started in April. The indictment was dropped without prejudice, meaning that the charges could be brought up again at any point, leaving many observers with the impression that Adams has been granted grace under the condition that he follow through on Trump’s policy goals.
While this sentiment was not expressed on signage at the protest, nearly every demonstrator who spoke to La Voce agreed that the relationship between Adams and the Trump administration was problematic, and said that it contributed to them coming to the rally. “It’s definitely a huge part of it,” said Ken, a local student. “The fact that they’re openly trying to get away with criminal activity, they’re saying the quiet part out loud now, they’re not even hiding… I think he should resign immediately.”
His friend Matt thinks that Governor Kathy Hochul should be less hesitant about wielding the power that the New York City Charter grants her to oust the embattled mayor. “It’s just going to be ammunition for her opposition,” he says. “It’s the second big decision that she’s dragging her feet on, right? Deciding to go back on congestion pricing and now not firing Adams after a very obvious quid pro quo.” Hochul had abruptly delayed congestion pricing last May just weeks before it was set to be implemented, despite the measure having passed many procedural hurdles and legal challenges. Congestion pricing in Manhattan finally started in January, albeit with lower fees.
Many of the protesters out today state that they became activated politically after Trump’s election last fall and joined groups to oppose his policies. Dean Norton and Danny Diana-Peebles started organizing through Indivisible (a 501(c)4 whose goal is to “resist the Trump agenda”) and the Democratic Socialists of America, respectively, after Trump’s election last fall. They shared Ken and Matt’s views on Adams. “It’s part of the whole issue of corruption, from Trump all the way down to Adams,” says Norton, calling the president and the mayor’s dynamic a “mafia situation” where Trump granted Adams freedom from prosecution and “expects something in return.” Diana-Peebles agrees that the situation between them was a quid pro quo, and wants someone who reflects New York’s overall reputation as a welcoming place for immigrants. “It’s really important to have our sanctuary state status protected,” he says, “and I think we need a mayor who really stands up for that.”
Paul Hillebrand, who works for a solar developer, came from Jersey City to take part in the protests, stating flatly that he’s “just pissed off.” He says that Biden was a “great president” for renewable energy, having committed additional resources to its development and deployment, but now his livelihood appears uncertain as Trump has targeted renewables, having already slashed federal funds for wind projects. “It’s just a witch hunt for anything that looks liberal or progressive or new,” he says. While everyone else interviewed by La Voce organized going to the protest beforehand, mostly through Indivisible, Hillebrand was not already politically engaged, and came to know about the protest by accident. “I was walking my dog and I saw someone walking with a sign towards the train in Jersey City, and I looked on my phone to see what was happening today,” he explains. “I dropped off my dog and hopped on the train. So shoutout to my anonymous neighbor.”
Woven in everyone’s comments is the sense that their right to protest as they are today could very conceivably be stripped going forward. “I feel like we have to make a stand before it’s too late,” says Dean Norton. Matt sees this show of opposition as vital to preserving the right to voice opposition at all. “If you roll over and show them your belly they’re going to bite you,” he says. “Don’t let fascists do their work quietly.”
