Protesters took to New York City streets on Saturday, September 20, to call for climate, social, and economic justice, and specifically, making billionaires and polluters pay up.
The “Make Billionaires Pay” march united climate activists, migrant rights defenders and women’s rights advocates in their demands for climate and social justice. Climate movement researchers say the coalition reflects a growing shift toward intersectional, grassroots mobilization as climate action stalls at the federal level. It is led by 350.org, Climate Defenders, Desis Rising Up and Moving (DRUM), Target Majority NYC and Women’s March.
“I hope we can scare Trump and his billionaire allies,” said Renata Pumarol, deputy director of Climate Defenders, a multi-racial and multi-generational climate organizing hub. “We need to show them that we are organized, and that there are more of us than them.”
“The billionaire fascists are setting our world on fire,” Target Majority NYC stated. “They’re dismantling democracy, attacking immigrants, and fueling war. They profit off genocide and climate collapse. This moment demands mass mobilization. As world leaders gather in New York City for the UN General Assembly and Climate Week, it’s time to show them that we are revolting against Trump and the billionaire class. We’re calling on people across the US to join the nonviolent resistance by hosting a march in your community or joining the anchor march in NYC.”
“Everything feels out of control. ICE raids tearing families apart. Genocide streamed live on our screens,” Womens March declared.” Free speech and our freedoms under direct attack from the Trump regime. And billionaires are pouring gasoline on every fire while families can’t make rent. They want us scattered. Silent. Afraid. Today, we gather in power. As the United Nations meets and Climate Week begins, we take the streets of New York City- lound, undeniable, impossible to ignore.”
“Make Billionaires Pay”
They gathered during Climate Week, as the United Nations General Assembly gets underway.
They marched as the Trump administration is actively rescinding the historic climate actions of the Biden Administration to transition to a clean, renewable energy economy, cancelling regulations to protect the air and water from pollution, cancelling tax credits for electric vehicles, actively shutting down the offshore windfarms that were already well under construction, his EPA Administrator, Long Islander Lee Zeldin who unsuccessfully ran for New York Governor, rescinding the Endangerment Finding that empowers the federal government to regulate carbon emissions contributing to climate change.
“As soon as the second Trump administration took office in January 2025, he unleashed an immediate and unprecedented attack on our environment and public health,” writes the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). “This includes a rollback of crucial environmental safeguards, the repeal of bedrock environmental and health laws, the delay of critical protections for endangered species, and attacks on well-established science and scientists.” (https://www.nrdc.org/resources/white-house-watch-tracking-attacks-our-environment-health)
The actions are not only hurting public health, exposing communities to more severe and deadly climate disasters, but affordability, as well. Ending the development and transition to clean, renewable energy makes American households dependent on ever-rising prices for fossil fuels.
“Clean energy has lowered Americans’ bills, created hundreds of thousands of jobs, and helped fight climate change. But it’s bad for the fossil fuel industry’s bottom line, and Trump seems willing to stop at nothing to slow it down – including breaking the law his own party just passed,” the Climate Action Campaign (CAC) writes. “We need to build as much clean energy as we can to help avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Thanks to Trump and his fossil fuel cronies, Americans are getting more pollution, higher bills, and more deadly extreme weather instead of the healthy, safe, and prosperous future we deserve.” (https://www.actonclimate.com/post/cacs-alt-on-trumps-latest-attack-on-wind-and-solar/)
It’s hard to keep track of all the aggressively, in-your face anti-climate, anti-environment, anti-public health actions trump has unleashed – this list was compiled with the help of AI:
Withdrew from the Paris Agreement again.
Prioritizes fossil fuel production while actively attacking clean renewable energy development: Trump’s “America First Energy Plan” prioritizes fossil fuel development, including oil, coal, and natural gas, aiming for energy dominance through deregulation.
Reviving oil pipeline projects that communities rejected.
Opened protected areas for drilling: Trump administration finalized decisions to open Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and other federally protected lands and waters to drilling.
Declared a “national energy emergency” during his 2025 inauguration to justify further expansion of fossil fuel extraction and streamline the permitting process for new oil and gas projects.
Rolled back Clean Power Plan
Weakened vehicle emissions standards:
Targeted renewable energy: The second Trump administration has halted new offshore wind projects, even ones that were nearing completion, and limited tax credits for wind and solar projects as well as credits enabling homeowners to incorporate solar energy.
Reduced Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) authority and budget, undermining its ability to enforce environmental regulations, while declaring it would not bother to regulate polluters.
Weakened the Clean Water Act: The administration repealed the 2015 Clean Water Rule, narrowing the scope of federal protection for wetlands and small streams and leaving more waterways vulnerable to pollution.
Scaled back national monuments: Trump dramatically reduced the size of several national monuments, including Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante in Utah, to open up land for resource extraction. In 2020, he opened the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument to commercial fishing. In the second term, he has gone back to reverse Biden’s re-designations.
Loosened methane regulations: The EPA weakened rules that limited methane emissions from oil and gas operations on public and tribal lands.
Targeted toxics and pollution standards: The administration rolled back standards for mercury and air toxics from power plants and loosened rules regulating coal ash disposal, and delayed or rescinded standards keeping “forever chemicals” out of drinking water.
Cut climate research funding including those at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and The National Weather Service, stopped satellite monitoring showing impacts of climate change, and cancelled reports that measure climate change.
Dismissed climate change: Trump and his administration frequently expressed skepticism about the scientific consensus on climate change and dismantled interagency groups designed to coordinate climate action and continues to call climate change a “hoax” and a “scam.”
Limited the “social cost of carbon”: An executive order disbanded the interagency working group that calculated the “social cost of carbon”—a metric used to quantify the economic damages from greenhouse gas emissions—and directed agencies to consider eliminating the calculation. Companies are discouraged from calculating the risk of climate change in their investments and public reporting.
Reduced public health protections: A 2018 analysis by Harvard researchers estimated that the environmental rollbacks could lead to thousands of extra deaths and millions of additional respiratory problems per decade due to increased pollution.
Meanwhile, a new study led by a Stony Brook University researcher projects that, due to climate change factors, there will be more wildfires in the coming decades, and their smoke could lead to tens of thousands of deaths by 2050.
Climate disasters have become more severe and more frequent and more costly even as Trump moves to shut down FEMA. The US spends $150 billion annually on climate-related disaster relief (as much as what Trump has allocated to militarize mass deportations), with recent years seeing even higher costs due to increased frequency of major events. The US experienced 27 billion-dollar disasters in 2024, totaling $182.7 billion – well above the 5-year average.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin has proposed rolling back carbon pollution standards for existing coal and new gas-fired power plants and dismantling standards that limit dangerous Mercury and Air Toxics (MATS) pollution from coal plants. These rollbacks would worsen air quality, hurt public health, and exacerbate the climate crisis.
“Climate pollution is worsening health and living conditions for so many of our families nationwide, which is why people across party lines strongly oppose their repeal,” stated Climate Action Campaign Director Margie Alt. “The EPA was created to protect people, not polluters. Eliminating these vital air pollution and climate protections will make our families sick, poison the air, and make extreme weather triggered by the climate crisis more deadly and destructive. The EPA should honor its mission to protect our health and environment, not advance an agenda that puts polluters first.”
Thousands of Americans are now dying each year from heat stroke, with global warming setting new records for temperature year after year.
“Clean energy has lowered Americans’ bills, created hundreds of thousands of jobs, and helped fight climate change. But it’s bad for the fossil fuel industry’s bottom line, and Trump seems willing to stop at nothing to slow it down – including breaking the law his own party just passed.
Even as his administration works aggressively to harm the environment, unleash climate change rather than mitigate against it resulting in public health emergencies ranging from epidemics, to heat stroke, to asthma, to heart disease, trump is working to dismantle public health altogether.
A kind of catch-all for protest in what has become a rolling series of protests, other issues being voiced included democracy, rule of law, immigrant rights, human rights, Palestinian rights, ending war and conflict.
As CGI marks its 20th anniversary, the 2025 Annual Meeting has been reimagined to drive action on urgent global challenges, around the theme of “What’s Next”
Featured participants announced today include Noubar Afeyan, Founder and CEO, Flagship Pioneering; Co-Founder and Chairman, Moderna; Matt Damon, Co-Founder, Water.org and WaterEquity; Anthony Capuano, President and CEO, Marriott International; Cindy McCain, Executive Director, World Food Programme; Hamdi Ulukaya, CEO and Founder, Chobani; Abigail Disney, Filmmaker, Writer, Philanthropist, and Activist; Ryan Gellert, CEO, Patagonia; Audrey Tang, Cyber Ambassador, Taiwan; Wendy Abrams, Co-Founder and CEO, Eleven Eleven Foundation; Donna Karan, Founder, Urban Zen Foundation; Katherine Maher, President and CEO, NPR; Neil Buddy Shah, CEO, Clinton Health Access Initiative; and more. Learn more about this year’s full program and participants at https://clintonglobal.org/2025
NEW YORK, NY — The Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) announced more leaders from across business, government, philanthropy, and civil society, convening at the CGI 2025 Annual Meeting September 24-25, uniting around this year’s theme of “What’s Next.” These leaders are poised to take action to confront new and worsening challenges on climate, health, the economy, humanitarian response, democracy and human rights, truth and information, education, and innovative finance.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of CGI. Since 2005, more than 500 million people in more than 180 countries have had their lives improved by more than 4,000 Commitments to Action launched through CGI.
Last month, in a letter marking CGI’s 20th anniversary, President Clinton issued a stark call to action to the CGI community, outlining changes to this year’s meeting: “Given the scope of the challenges we face, this year’s CGI meeting will be different – by necessity. We need to redefine how we show up, how we work, and how we find ways to honor our common humanity.”Read President Clinton’s Call to Action here.
To tackle these challenges, the CGI 2025 Annual Meeting is bringing together leaders of major charitable foundations, nonprofits, businesses, governments, unions, and more to chart solutions. Featured participants announced today include:
Global advocates and activists including Stacey Abrams, Founder, American Pride Rises Network; Wendy Abrams, Co-Founder & CEO, Eleven Eleven Foundation; Vedika Bhandarkar, President and Chief Operating Officer, Water.org; Deepak Bhargava, President, Freedom Together Foundation; Matt Damon, Co-Founder, Water.org & WaterEquity; Abigail Disney, Filmmaker, Writer, Philanthropist, and Activist; Lindsay Ell, Artist, Songwriter, and Philanthropist; Dr. David C. Fajgenbaum, Co-Founder, Every Cure; Donna Karan, Founder, Urban Zen Foundation; and Audrey Tang, Cyber Ambassador, Taiwan;
Journalists and leaders across media including Errin Haines, Editor at Large, The 19th; Margaret Hoover, Host, Firing Line with Margaret Hoover, PBS; Andrew Jack, Global Education Editor, Financial Times; Raj Kumar, Founding President and Editor-in-Chief, Devex; Nishant Lalwani, CEO, International Fund for Public Interest Media; Katherine Maher, President and CEO, NPR; Alan Murray, Founding President, The Wall Street Journal Leadership Institute; Matthew Segal, Co-Founder, ATTN; Jessica Sibley, CEO, TIME; Vitus Spehar, Creator, Under The Desk News; and Michael Vito Valentino, Editor-in-Chief, NowThis;
Business leaders including Noubar Afeyan, Founder and CEO, Flagship Pioneering; Co-Founder and Chairman, Moderna; Rima Al Mokarrab, Chair, Tamkeen; Anthony Capuano, President and CEO, Marriott International; Michael Dowling, CEO, Northwell Health; Ryan Gellert, CEO, Patagonia; Lutz Hegemann, President Global Health, Novartis International AG; Joe Kiani, Founder and Executive Chairman, Willow Labs; and Hamdi Ulukaya, CEO and Founder, Chobani;
Philanthropic leaders including Tonya Allen, President, the McKnight Foundation; DeAngela Burns-Wallace, President and CEO, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation; Marla Blow, CEO, Skoll Foundation; Somachi Chris-Asoluka, CEO, The Tony Elumelu Foundation; Kellea Miller, Executive Director, Human Rights Funders Network; Jacqueline Novogratz, Founder and CEO, Acumen; Carmen Rojas, President and CEO, Marguerite Casey Foundation; John-Arne Røttingen, CEO, Wellcome Trust; and Mark Suzman, CEO and Board Member, Gates Foundation;
Civil society and NGO leaders including Manish Bapna, President and CEO, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC); Kathy Higgins, CEO, the Alliance for a Healthier Generation; Lisha McCormick, CEO, Last Mile Health; Sania Nishtar, CEO, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance; Kelley Robinson, President, Human Rights Campaign; Peter Sands, Executive Director, The Global Fund; Neil Buddy Shah, CEO, Clinton Health Access Initiative; and Janti Soeripto, President and CEO, Save the Children US;
Government and multi-lateral leaders including U.S. Senator Chris Coons of Delaware; St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Terrance Drew; Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs; Michelle Lujan Grisham, Governor, New Mexico; Cindy McCain, Executive Director, World Food Programme; and more.
As part of President Clinton’s call to action last month, this year’s CGI Annual Meeting will be reimagined to promote collaboration through Working Groups – facilitated, action-focused sessions where leaders will collaborate with mission-aligned organizations to drive real solutions in the areas that matter most and are under the greatest threat. These Working Groups include cross-sector collaborations on Climate, Democracy and Human Rights, The Economy, Education, Health, Humanitarian Response, Innovative Finance, and Truth and Information.
Sponsors for the CGI 2025 Annual Meeting include AFT, All Hands & Hearts, Amalgamated Bank, APCO, Aurora Humanitarian Initiative, Bob and Jane Harrison, Cure, Doha Forum, Equity Group Holdings Plc, Flagship Pioneering, Former Congressman David Trone, Gilead Sciences, Inc., Integra Capital, Interenergy Group, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Kokoro, MEBO International, Northwell Health, Pfizer, Pinterest, Sino-European Manufacturing Club, Strauss Media Strategies, Inc., Tarsadia Foundation, The EKTA Foundation, The Nima Taghavi Foundation, The John D. Evans Foundation, The Kiani Foundation, The Marc Haas Foundation, Ukraine Children’s Action Project, Varkey Foundation, and W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Postcode Lottery Group is serving as a partner for the CGI 2025 Annual Meeting. Devex and Grist are media partners for the CGI 2025 Annual Meeting.
To mark the Clinton Global Initiative’s 20th Anniversary, Social Goods — a purpose-driven small business — and the Clinton Foundation are partnering to unveil a new, limited-edition collection where every item sold supports Foundation programs that advance solutions on economic opportunity, climate, public health, gender equality, and more.
Previously announced participants include Prime Minister Gaston Browne of Antigua and Barbuda; Prime Minister Philip Davis of The Bahamas; Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados; President Vjosa Osmani of Kosovo; Nazanin Ash, CEO, Welcome.US; Suyen Barahona Cuan, Executive Director, Colmena Fund; Priscilla Sims Brown, President and CEO, Amalgamated Bank; Rolando Gonzalez Bunster, Chairman and CEO, InterEnergy Group; Brendan Carr, CEO, Mount Sinai Health System; Tim Cadogan, CEO, GoFundMe; John Hope Bryant, Founder, Chairman and CEO, Operation HOPE, Inc.; Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Founder and Chair Emeritus, The Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Center for Women and Development; John King, Chancellor, State University of New York; Ann Lee, Co-Founder and CEO, Community Organized Relief Effort (CORE); Nancy Lindborg, President and CEO, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation; Lisha McCormick, CEO, Last Mile Health; Patricia McIlreavy, President and CEO, Center for Disaster Philanthropy; Denis Mukwege, President and Founder, Panzi Hospital; James Mwangi, Group CEO, Equity Group Holdings; Reema Nanavaty, Director, Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA); Binaifer Nowrojee, President, Open Society Foundations; Michelle Nunn, President and CEO, CARE USA; Daniel O’Day, Chairman and CEO, Gilead Sciences; Kennedy Odede. Co-Founder and CEO, Shining Hope for Communities; Maribel Pérez Wadsworth, President and CEO, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation; Ai-jen Poo, President and Executive Director, National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA) and Caring Across Generations; Bill Ready, CEO, Pinterest; Maria Ressa, Co-Founder and CEO, Rappler; Liz Shuler, President, AFL–CIO; Karlee Silver, CEO, Grand Challenges Canada; Charlotte Slente, Secretary General, Danish Refugee Council; Darren Walker, President, Ford Foundation; Randi Weingarten, President, American Federation of Teachers; and more.
On Labor Day, Trump boasted of having fired 84,000 “bureaucrats” – you know, those dedicated public servants and experts who actually deliver government services to We the People. He didn’t mention the tens of thousands fired from the Veterans Administration or the Social Security Administration, or the 318,000 black women who were purged from their jobs because of Trump’s Executive Order declaring DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) illegal. He didn’t mention signing a new Executive Order firing people from Patent Office, NASA and the National Weather Service, or the tens of thousands already fired with the lie “for cause” by Musk’s DOGE bros, or the $2.1 billion he spent paying people not to work.
In effect, besides effectively shutting government down, Trump has violated existing labor law, Civil Service Act – but he doesn’t care.
But what hundreds of thousands of Democrats and anti-Trumper “No Kings”/”Hands-Off” activists who gathered at hundreds of “Workers Against Billionaires” rallies across the country on Labor Day, including hundreds at Nassau County’s Executive Building, wondered was how in hell Trump and the MAGA Republicans con workers to believe Trump or MAGA are “populists” who give a crap about them.
“A vote for a Republican is a vote against labor,” declared Claudia Borecky, President Bellmore-Merrick Democratic Club, principal organizer of the rally. “Trump fired 149,000 government workers, which wound up costing us $2.1 billion because he wound up paying people not to come into work. Are Republicans fighting to save jobs?
“A vote for a Republican is a vote against small business. The illegal tariffs impact small businesses most of all. The Walmarts can absorb some of Trump’s import tax. Small businesses cannot. Nearly one quarter of small businesses say the tariffs will put them out of business. Millions of people will lose their jobs. Are Republicans fighting to help small businesses?
“A vote for a Republican is a vote for billionaires. The Republican Big Bad Bill should be called the ‘Billionaire Benefit Bill’. It takes healthcare away from 10 million Americans. It literally takes food out of the mouths of millions of children so that it could give billionaires an even bigger tax cut. Are Republicans helping working families put food on their tables?
“A vote for a Republican is a vote to raise our taxes. To give a tax break to billionaires, Trump is taxing us for everything we buy. The tariffs are the largest tax hike in U.S. history. Who’s paying for these tariffs?
“A vote for a Republican is a vote to raise our taxes right here at home. Does anyone think Governor Hochul is going to let New Yorkers die in the street? Does anyone think Governor Hochul is going to let New York children go hungry? Of course, not. The loss of federal funds for Medicaid will cause state taxes to go up. The loss of federal funds for Medicaid will cause our county taxes to go up. The loss of federal funds for Medicaid will cause Nassau’s only public hospital to close its doors.
“Crickets from Blakeman. Does anyone see Republicans fighting for us?
“A vote for a Republican is a vote for corruption. And where better to find the most corrupt Republicans, but right here on Long Island,” she said, reminding the gathered that Congressman Anthony D’Esposito lost his reelection to Democrat Laura Gillen after he was accused of labor violations for hiring his lover and his fiancée’s daughter and had been sued for civil rights violations when he was a cop. But what does Trump – ever on the lookout for the most incompetent, corrupt people he can find to install in government – made D’Esposito Inspector General of the Department of Labor. No surprise that D’Esposito says nothing about Trump firing people he’s not allowed to fire and ignores all civil rights violations that come against this administration.
“Trump – the man who made his reputation from saying ‘You’re Fired’, now has a dictator-like banner with his face on it hanging in the front of the Dept. of Labor building. Trump’s expression basically says, ‘If you don’t do as I say, you’re fired.’ Well, it’s time we tell Trump, ‘You’re Fired!’”
She pointed to another Long Island Republican, Lee Zeldin, who Trump appointed to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. “He kisses the ring and cancels all wind and solar incentives. They just cancelled a wind project off Rhode Island that was 80% complete. Now thousands of people will lose their jobs. And how many solar panel businesses on Long Island will go under? How many Long Islanders in that industry will lose their jobs?”
She attacked County Executive Bruce Blakeman for forming his own private militia, noting that Trump followed suit. Then Trump created his own militia, spending $170 billion to hire an army of ICE officers. To appease Trump, Blakeman federalized Nassau County detectives and made them ICE officers.
“The only difference is that no one knows how much Blakeman’s militia is costing us. No one knows whether taking trained detectives off our streets is keeping us safe. Trump and Blakeman are following the Republican playbook. A book written by Long Island Republicans. Both are spending working families’ dollars on policies that make us less safe. And of course, both Trump and Blakeman are trying to normalize pay-to-play governments that line the pockets of family and friends,” Borecky stated.
Trump appointed Lee Zeldin, former long Island Congressman, to head the Environmental Protection Agency, who is repealing the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, removing greenhouse gases from requiring regulation, and cancelling wind and solar projects funded under Biden’s Inflation Reduction and Infrastructure acts – he cancelled Rhode Island’s offshore wind farm though it was 80% complete, causing thousands to lose jobs, and is cancelling Long Island’s wind projects, which will cost tens of thousands of jobs.
On that point, Governor Kathy Hochul, with Governors Maura Healey, Ned Lamont, Dan McKee and Phil Murphy issued a joint statement:
“We are looking for the Trump Administration to uphold all offshore wind permits already granted and allow these projects to be constructed. Efforts to walk back these commitments jeopardize hardworking families, wasting years of progress and ceding leadership to foreign competitors. Workers, businesses, and communities need certainty, not reversals that would cost tens of thousands of American jobs and critical investment. Sudden reversals would also impact countless other workers and taxpayers on scores of non-energy public projects. The U.S. markets operate on certainty. Canceling projects that have already been fully permitted–including some near completion—sends the worrisome message to investors that the work can be stopped on a whim, which could lead them to decide to either not finance different projects or impose higher interest rates that would ultimately place a bigger burden on taxpayers.”
The $1 trillion cut from Medicaid that Trump and the Republicans made are not only disastrous for the health care system, causing hospitals and clinics to close and tens of thousands of jobs lost, but “tens of thousands will die of preventable deaths,” declared Michael Hellman of SEIU 1199. “It is cruelty over compassion to pay for more tax breaks for the billionaires…We must hold responsible the morally irresponsible leaders who are promoting this corruption.”
Nadia Marin-Molina of the National Organization of Daily Laborers attacked Trump’s mass deportation crusade, snatching people off the street based on racial profiling. “[Nassau County Executive Bruce] Blakeman said he was going after criminals, but most who are deported never get a trial, no evidence is presented. Every person has a constitutional right to due process. These people are being deported with no due process. The real criminals are in the White House. The real criminals are those getting rich by stealing workers’ wages.
“Immigrant rights and rights of all working people regardless of status are linked. If employers think they can have workers deported, and can exploit workers without consequence, will lower standards for all. Immigrant workers are afraid of standing up for wages if fear employers will call ICE and have them deported.”
She pointed to some communities who are creating day laborer “corners” to protect workers. “The Long Island community needs to stand up…Stop local governments like Nassau County from facilitating ICE and campaign of terrorism. Fight for the right of all workers to come home without fear of being kidnapped off the street.”
Dave Denenberg said Trump “believes that if tell a lie often enough, people will believe. But we must combat the lie that Trump is ‘on top of inflation’ – we are paying more for clothing, groceries, everything, while local taxes are up 12%. Mailers attack Hochul, but she’s fighting for us.
Denenberg pointed to Blakeman’s faux attack on New York City’s congestion pricing, long advocated by city environmentalists to reduce pollution while raising funds for public transportation improvements. Blakeman is fighting to take away congestion pricing (as is the Trump administration which threatens to cut back funds), while fighting to protect the illegal surcharges on red light tickets.
Joe Scianablo, candidate for Hempstead Town Supervisor, moaned, “I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired.” He described himself as a “career public servant” – a marine vet, former police officer, former Queens prosecutor – who is standing with labor, the backbone of our town, our county, our country.
He accused Hempstead government of corruption in doing the bait-and-switch to name a new, unelected supervisor.
“Corruption has no end. It happens in back room where we’re locked out. Political insiders take care of themselves before anyone else. They broke the law and shouldn’t even be in their positions.” The former supervisor resigned (so the party could appoint a replacement wyho would run as an incumbent), and got a no-show job. “They use us as an ATM machine.
“Vote in November for change. This is not Right and Left, this is about right and wrong. This campaign is about people, labor, standing with residents not insiders who raised taxes 12 percent and gave themselves raises. When [ ‘Fibbin Freddie’] says he is a tax cutter, he is lying.”
New York State Assemblyman Chuck Lavine said, “We’re here for labor rights, human rights, women’s rights.” He attacked Trump for “what they have done to American labor – unilaterally stripped collective bargaining rights from hundreds of thousands. From the Veterans Administration alone, 400,000 workers lost their rights to collective bargaining because of an Executive Order that could affect 1 million federal workers.
Trump “has attacked workers, gutted the Department of Labor with DOGE cuts. He rolled back Labor Department rules issued under Obama and Biden allowing workers to campaign for working conditions; hampered the National Labor Relations Board, firing the head and nominating two corporate-friendlies to steer NLRB away from its mission to support workers.
“Make good trouble,” Lavine said.
Wayne Wink, former town clerk, legislator, councilman and now running for Nassau Comptroller, attacked Blakeman and Comptroller Elaine Phillips who met with the Heritage Foundation (authors of Project 2025), giving their implicit support to the blueprint to cut millions off of health care, women of their reproductive rights, and bust unions from federal workers on down.
“It’s not just Blakeman but the entire ticket. They have all drunk the MAGA Kool-aid.”
He noted that Phillips has not conducted one audit of her Republican-led agencies – not the scandal-ridden and bankrupt Nassau University Medical Center, not the spending for Blakeman’s private militia. “They are spending county money fighting Hochul and fighting ‘We the People’.”
“Complacency has gotten us to where we are today,”Claudia Borecky later commented. “ But a growing number of people are saying ‘No Bleeping Way’. And it will be up to us to literally save democracy.”
Reminder: Election day for county and town officials is in 64 days.
Twenty years after the launch of the Clinton Global Initiative, President Clinton has issued a stark Call to Action: “Given the scope of the challenges we face, this year’s CGI meeting will be different – by necessity. We need to redefine how we show up, how we work, and how we find ways to honor our common humanity.” Read President Clinton’s Call to Action here.
President Clinton, Secretary Hillary Clinton, and Dr. Chelsea Clinton will convene global leaders for the 2025 CGI Meeting September 24-25 in New York City to chart out “What’s Next.”
Learn more about this year’s meeting, including working group topics and early participants, at https://clintonglobal.org/2025
If you want to be reminded that there is good in the world, that progress to solve the most intransient problems and existential crises of our time is possible, to hear and learn from the smartest, most successful, most accomplished people on the planet, the place to be is the Clinton Global Initiative. Since its founding in 2005, each session has been like an alternate universe to the dystopia contrived by evil forces digging deeper into society and eroding civilization. –Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
NEW YORK, NY — President Bill Clinton issued a Call to Action to the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) community to come together at a re-imagined Annual Meeting this September 24-25 designed to promote collaboration and take action to confront new and worsening challenges on climate, health, the economy, and more.
President Clinton outlined that this year’s meeting will look different than previous years to most effectively confront the challenges of 2025 and lay the groundwork for what’s next:
“The global development community is at an unprecedented crossroads, with growing humanitarian needs, fewer resources, and the landscape changing every day. Given the scope of the challenges we face, this year’s CGI meeting will be different – by necessity. We need to redefine how we show up, how we work, and how we find ways to honor our common humanity. This September, our goal will be to connect dots across issues, expose the consequences, and confront the complicated issues in front of us.”
To tackle these challenges, President Clinton, Secretary Clinton, and Dr. Chelsea Clinton have called together leaders of major charitable foundations, nonprofits, businesses, governments, unions, and more to chart solutions in 2025. More speakers will be announced in the coming weeks; today, CGI announced initial featured participants at the CGI 2025 Annual Meeting:
Heads of State and government leaders including Prime Minister Gaston Browne of Antigua and Barbuda; Prime Minister Philip Davis of The Bahamas; Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados, President Vjosa Osmani of Kosovo, and Amy Pope, Director General, International Organization for Migration (IOM);
Business leaders including Priscilla Sims Brown, President and CEO, Amalgamated Bank, Rolando Gonzalez Bunster, Chairman and CEO, InterEnergy Group; Tim Cadogan, CEO, GoFundMe; James Mwangi, Group CEO, Equity Group Holdings; Daniel O’Day, Chairman and CEO, Gilead Sciences; and Bill Ready, CEO, Pinterest;
Philanthropic leaders including Nancy Lindborg, President and CEO, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation; Patricia McIlreavy, President and CEO, Center for Disaster Philanthropy; Binaifer Nowrojee, President, Open Society Foundations; Maribel Pérez Wadsworth, President and CEO, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation; Karlee Silver, CEO, Grand Challenges Canada; and Darren Walker, President, Ford Foundation;
Nobel Laureates including Denis Mukwege, President and Founder, Panzi Hospital; Maria Ressa, Co-Founder and CEO, Rappler; and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Founder and Chair Emeritus, The Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Center for Women and Development;
Civil society and multi-lateral organization leaders including Nazanin Ash, CEO, Welcome.US; Ann Lee, Co-Founder and CEO, Community Organized Relief Effort (CORE); Lisha McCormick, CEO, Last Mile Health; Michelle Nunn, President and CEO, CARE USA; and Kennedy Odede, Co-Founder and CEO, Shining Hope for Communities;
Global Activists and Advocates including Suyen Barahona Cuan, Executive Director, Colmena Fund; Ai-jen Poo, President and Executive Director, National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA) and Caring Across Generations; Liz Shuler, President, AFL–CIO; Randi Weingarten, President, American Federation of Teachers; and more.
CGI 2025 will have a sharper focus on CGI Working Groups – facilitated, action-focused sessions where leaders will collaborate with mission-aligned organizations to drive real solutions in the areas that matter most and are under the greatest threat. CGI Working Groups at this year’s meeting include:
Climate: scaling investment in transformative climate solutions; group leaders and select participants include Sarah Chandler, Vice President, Environment and Supply Chain Innovation, Apple; Reema Nanavaty, Director, Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA); and Sophia Kianni, Founder, Climate Cardinals;
Democracy and Human Rights: protecting democratic principles and upholding equality and justice; group leaders and select participants include Suyen Barahona Cuan, Executive Director, Colmena Fund; Gary Barker, Founder and CEO, Equimundo: Center for Masculinities and Social Justice; Mona Sinha, Global Executive Director, Equality Now; and Melanne Verveer, Executive Director, Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace & Security;
Economy: building resilient and inclusive global economic development amid widening inequalities; group leaders and select participants include Chetna Sinha, Founder, Mann Deshi Bank; Priscilla Sims Brown, President and CEO, Amalgamated Bank; John Hope Bryant, Founder, Chairman and CEO, Operation HOPE, Inc.; and Ai-jen Poo, President and Executive Director, National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA) and Caring Across Generations;
Education: advancing equitable and quality education for all; group leaders and select participants include Marci Alboher, Chief Engagement Officer, CoGenerate; John MacFee, CEO, JED Foundation; and Randi Weingarten, President, American Federation of Teachers;
Health: safeguarding public health gains and increasing global health equity; group leaders and select participants include Brendan Carr, CEO, Mount Sinai Health System; Tabinda Sarosh, CEO, Pathfinder International; Jeff Sturchio, Chair, Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and Lisha McCormick, CEO, Last Mile Health;
Humanitarian Response: building response models to be more resilient, collaborative, and adequately resourced; group leaders and select participants include Rez Gardi, Co-Managing Director, R-SEAT; Patricia McIlreavy, President and CEO, Center for Disaster Philanthropy; Ann Lee, Co-Founder and CEO, Community Organized Relief Effort (CORE); Denis Mukwege, President and Founder, Panzi Hospital; and Charlotte Slente, Secretary General, Danish Refugee Council;
Innovative Finance: building investment opportunities for more flexible, impact-driven funding; group leaders and select participants include Vishal Ghotge, CEO, Kiva; Joan M. Larrea, CEO, Convergence; and Karlee Silver, CEO, Grand Challenges Canada;
Truth and Information: revitalizing information ecosystems to uphold trust, truth, and transparency; group leaders and select participants include Dan Foy, Principal, Gallup; Wame Jallow, Executive Director, MTV Staying Alive Foundation; and Maria Ressa, Co-Founder and CEO, Rappler.
The sessions are designed for strategic collaboration, problem-solving, and the development of new CGI Commitments to Action.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of CGI. At the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2005, President Clinton announced that he would be convening the first CGI meeting that September, timed to the U.N. General Assembly, with the requirement that attendees make a commitment to act on a pressing global challenge. Since then, more than 500 million people in more than 180 countries have had their lives improved by more than 4,000 Commitments to Action launched through CGI.
In his letter to the CGI Community, President Clinton wrote:
“The CGI community is built for moments like this. This year marks two decades of our community convening and responding directly to global crises — from the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti; to the U.S. economic downturn in 2009 with the launch of CGI America; to the Ebola outbreaks in 2014, 2015, and 2016; to the Caribbean hurricanes in 2017; to the COVID-19 pandemic; and more. We’ve launched more than 4,100 Commitments that have improved the lives of over 500 million people worldwide.
“We’re drawing on 20 years of lessons, momentum, and partnerships to meet this moment and build what’s next.
“Our programming and our physical space will be designed for action. Our time together will be focused on new working group convenings — sessions where project plans are drafted, commitments are accelerated, and coalitions begin to take root. Every participant will be urged to ask the hard questions, contribute their expertise, and identify paths forward.
“Now is the time to stand up and roll up our sleeves — and do our part to reverse the trend lines and begin charting a brighter future.”
Learn more about this year’s meeting, including working group topics and early participants, at https://clintonglobal.org/2025
As Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman was signing an Executive Order showing support for the Trump Administration’s mass deportation activities, and stood up a private militia to assist, Nassau County Legislator, Democrat Scott M. Davis, penned this op-ed decrying Blakeman’s legally suspect “Provisional Deputy Sheriff” program.
Blakeman also advocated for passing the first ban on wearing a mask in public in New York State (notably, not a ban on wearing a mask during the commission of a crime, but anyone wearing a mask in public), inviting discriminatory police stops like the New York City, Rudy Giuliani-era stop-and-frisk policies that were ruled unconstitutional. But while Blakeman led the way to arrest people wearing a mask, he just signed an Executive Order allowing police to wear masks. Blakeman’sExecutive Order comes in the wake of a new bill that would ban ICE agents from wearing masks to conceal their identities while working in New York City. County Executive Blakeman derided the legislation and the decisions made by the New York City Council as being “pro-criminal and un-American.”
Notably, while the Supreme Court years ago ruled wearing a mask at a protest was protected under the Constitution, a federal judge just ruled that snatching people based on their skin color, language, occupation violated the 4th Amendment. Trump’s Deportation Czar Holman said that was exactly the criteria the ICE agents and their surrogates were using, and as a result, also swept up U.S. citizens. The agents’ use of masks is intended to shield them from accountability for their unlawful actions.
The Republican county executive, who has been hard at work currying favor and attention to prove himself a loyal soldier of the Trump’s team, is part and parcel of the Trump Administration’s march to a police state. How Blakeman will use his private militia – basically deputized private citizens with guns – in the service of Trump’s mass deportation policy is the issue and the concern. – Karen Rubin, editor@news-photos-features.com
By Scott M. Davis
As a Nassau County resident and member of the Legislature’s Public Safety Committee, I believe it is important for all residents to be fully informed about County Executive Bruce Blakeman’s ill-considered appointment of Provisional Deputy Sheriffs. The program, which has become known colloquially as Blakeman’s “militia,” is unlawful, an overreach of Executive authority, and creates an unnecessary risk of liability for Nassau County.
The program, which was launched in March 2024 and is currently being challenged in State Supreme Court, seeks to allow for the appointment of armed civilian volunteers to serve as “provisional deputy sheriffs” during a declared emergency. The purported rational for enacting this law, according to County Executive Blakeman, is “to provide an extra layer of protection”. He contends that these armed civilians would be deployed only in extreme emergencies where County and local law enforcement are overwhelmed and unable to respond – in essence inserting armed volunteer civilians into the worst possible circumstances which would be challenging even for the most seasoned law enforcement professionals.
Simply put, Nassau County does not need an “extra layer of protection” from a private civilian militia in 2025. Our nearly 1.4 million residents are protected by over 22 village and city police departments, a highly trained County police force numbering nearly 2,600 officers, an Office of Emergency Management, the New York State Police and the National Guard if necessary.
These resources have led U.S. News and World Report to designate Nassau County as the safest County of its size in the United States – a designation which is clearly indicative of a robust, well-trained, staffed and equipped police department that is fully capable of addressing any emergency in the County. To date, there has been no request for additional support from armed civilians by any law enforcement agency in the County, nor has there been any indication the current police departments would be understaffed should an emergency arise.
Moreover, this annual study of more than 3,100 Counties nationwide determined that we border two Counties that similarly excel in public safety – Queens to the west (20th safest) and Suffolk to the east (22nd safest).
Not only is the program unnecessary, I believe it is unlawful. The legal authority that the County Executive has cited for forming his militia is New York County Law section 655, which provides “for protection of human life and property during an emergency, the sheriff may deputize… such number of additional special deputies as he deems necessary”. Enacted in the 1930s, this archaic law was intended for emergencies where there were inadequate law enforcement personnel for protection of human life or property – particularly in rural areas with sparse populations and small police departments that could be understaffed and overwhelmed during an emergency.
It is my belief that Nassau is not a County that this antiquated law was intended for, and that this statute does not give County Executive Blakeman the authority to deputize and marshal a force of armed civilians.
My Democratic colleagues and I have many unanswered questions regarding the core details of this program. Who trains these civilians and what does the training entail? Will members of the militia be provided with uniforms and weapons? Who do members of the militia report to? Who determines when and where they are deployed? Is Nassau County liable in the event of negligence by a member of the militia?
The residents of Nassau County deserve transparency and answers. Faced with the Blakeman administration’s refusal to communicate with the Legislators or respond to Freedom of Information requests (FOIL) regarding the militia, and the belief that the civilian militia is a misapplication of the law, the only option remaining was to file a lawsuit against Blakeman challenging the legality of his Provisional Deputy Sheriff Program and compel transparency.
For these reasons, I along with my fellow Public Safety Committee member Alternate Deputy Minority Leader Debra Mulé, filed suit in Nassau County Supreme against the Blakeman administration on Feb. 5.
Scott M. Davis, of Rockville Centre, has represented the Nassau County Legislature’s First District since 2024.
Governors Tim Walz of Minnesota, JB Pritzker of Illinois and Kathy Hochul of New York appear at a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing in which they were forced to defend their handling of migrants.
I sure hope that Governor Kathy Hochul and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzer, appearing at a grilling by Republican House members intended to link sanctuary city policies to crime, noted the tens of thousands of migrants dumped into their cities and villages by Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis who illegally trafficked these people using lies to get them on buses, then dumping them without giving any notice in order to maximize the distress and cause chaos for Democratic mayors and governors.
And Democrats should note that the reason there are so many individuals do not have legal status is because Republicans have blocked every attempt at immigration reform, including funding to increase border security in 2024, following Trump’s orders. Now Trump’s thugs are going after anyone who looks Latino, including tourists, American citizens, and ending legal status for students, visa holders and those here to escape some calamity.
NY Congresswoman Elise Stefanik used the opportunity to audition for her run for governor, attacking Governor Hochul. But Hochul defended her handling of migrants.
Here is her opening statement to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and a memo laying out the facts and background of the state’s position on immigration and handling of the migrant crisis and crime: – Karen Rubin, editor, News & Photo Features.
Chairman Comer, Ranking Member Lynch, and Members of the Committee, as we speak the streets of an American City have been militarized over the objections of the Governor. This is nothing short of a flagrant abuse of power, an assault on our American values.
My views on immigration are simple and direct — our nation needs secure borders. Our nation needs comprehensive immigration reform from this Congress. Our state laws dictate that we cooperate with ICE in criminal cases. And our values dictate that we treat all law-abiding families with dignity and respect.
The America I believe in is a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants — abandoning either threatens the very foundation on which our great country was built. For 400 years New York has prospered from hard-working newcomers — people like my grandparents who fled poverty in Ireland — they had the same American Dream that immigrant families have today. They’re not here for handouts. They want to work, earn their place and raise their families.
Yet every day we see another story of children ripped from the arms of their mothers. Wives separated from their husbands. Families arrested while attending legal immigration appointments. Not long ago, in the small town of Sackets Harbor, New York masked and armed ICE agents stormed into a home before dawn, abducted a mother and three children — including a third grader. They were cast into a living hell in a detention facility in Texas. I immediately contacted Border Czar Tom Homan and demanded their release.
In Jefferson County, where more than 60 percent of voters supported Donald Trump, people protested in the streets. Local Republican lawmakers, business owners, and school leaders all spoke out. Finally, after nearly two weeks the family was returned home.
In New York, we understand the difference between going after criminals and traumatizing law-abiding families.
Now some will use this hearing to stoke fear but I’m here to give you the facts. New York has managed an unprecedented influx of migrants because of a broken border.
And yet at the same time our state has become stronger and safer.
Today, New York State has the lowest homicide rate among the nation’s ten largest states. We’ve achieved this not with indiscriminate roundups, not by tearing apart innocent families, but by investing over $2.6 billion in public safety. By engaging in smart, targeted policing and by partnering with federal agencies to apprehend and deport serious criminals.
Since I became Governor we’ve cooperated in handing over more than 1,300 convicted criminals to ICE. What we don’t do is enforce civil immigration violations — that’s the federal government’s job.
New Yorkers need their State Troopers seizing guns and drugs and patrolling highways. States like mine are doing our part but we can’t be expected to fix this nation’s broken immigration system.
The very people who go on cable news to rail about ‘chaos at the border’ are the ones who torpedo bipartisan immigration reform each and every time it’s within reach.
So here’s my message: If you truly care about public safety — if you truly care about the economy — if you truly care about human dignity then sit down, negotiate and deliver real reform. Secure the border. Revive legal pathways. Let people work.
At the end of today, I’ll go home and do my job of keeping New Yorkers safe. I hope you’ll do yours too.
TO: Interested Parties
FROM: Office of Governor Kathy Hochul
DATE: June 12, 2025
RE: Governor Kathy Hochul’s Appearance Before the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
Today, Governor Hochul is voluntarily appearing before the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to participate in a hearing on immigration policy.
During this hearing, you can expect to hear Governor Hochul explain how she’s keeping New Yorkers safe. Her position is clear: she supports strong, secure borders and comprehensive immigration reform. And throughout her time as governor, she has proven we can welcome individuals who wish to work and contribute to New York, while holding anyone who threatens public safety accountable.
Unfortunately, based on certain Members’ previous statements to the media, it seems very likely that this hearing will be derailed by wild accusations, twisted characterizations and flat-out falsehoods. This memo lays out the key facts on Governor Hochul’s record on public safety and on immigration policy. Let’s take a look:
FALSE CLAIM: New York is a sanctuary state that hinders the ability of federal law enforcement to arrest and remove violent criminals from its streets.
FACT: There is no sanctuary in New York for people who commit crimes. New York is committed to cracking down on gang members and violent criminals, and State officials cooperate with ICE and CBP in many circumstances.
-New York State can and will work and coordinate with federal immigration officials when:
-There is an active criminal investigation.
-An individual has been convicted of a New York State crime.
-An individual is suspected of an immigration crime.
-Coordination with federal immigration is relevant to the investigation of a crime committed in New York State.
-An individual is suspected of a crime with potential multinational dimensions, such as participation in international drug cartels and gangs.
-The Department of Correction and Community Supervision has handed over 1,300 non-citizen incarcerated individuals to ICE at the completion of their sentences since Governor Hochul took office in 2021:
Start Date
End Date
Released to ICE
ICE Did Not Pick Up
8/24/2021
12/31/2021
119
15
1/1/2022
12/31/2022
353
50
1/1/2023
12/31/2023
318
18
1/1/2024
12/31/2024
395
22
1/1/2025
5/30/2025
158
15
TOTAL
1,343
120
Source: NYS DOCCS records
–Justice.gov: Pakistani National Extradited to Face Charges in Connection with Plot to Carry Out ISIS-Inspired Mass Shooting at Jewish Center in New York City
-“A Pakistani citizen residing in Canada, Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, 20, also known as Shahzeb Jadoon, was extradited to the United States on June 10, in connection with an indictment filed in the Southern District of New York.”
-“State Police assigned to the Task Force played a critical role in the investigation of the subject and his movement toward the U.S. from Canada. Through partnership with colleagues at the FBI, CBP and Canadian law enforcement, he was ultimately arrested by Canadian authorities before he could get into the United States.” [Governor.ny.gov]
–Ice.gov: ICE New York City, partners arrest illegal alien wanted in home country for homicide
-“On Feb. 2, 2018, authorities in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, issued a warrant for Cruz’s arrest for the offense of homicide, which went international six weeks later. ICE New York City received notification March 16 this year.”
-“The New Rochelle Police Department arrested Cruz for having improper plates and impounded his vehicle May 17. The New Rochelle Police Department released Cruz on his own recognizance prior to realizing that he was an international fugitive wanted for homicide. Upon receiving this information, the police department immediately notified ICE New York City, which — along with federal partners — arrested Cruz.”
–Ice.gov: ICE Buffalo investigation nets 30-year sentence for New York man on child exploitation charges
-“A New York man was sentenced for child exploitation charges following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement with support from New York State Police.”
–Ice.gov: Pennsylvania man sentenced for role in burglary of 55 UPS warehouses following ICE investigation
-“Agencies nationwide supported ICE HSI Newark in the investigation leading to the sentencings… New York agencies include the New York State Police […].”
FALSE CLAIM: Crime is at record-high levels in New York and the City and State are in chaos.
FACT: Among the most populous states, New York State and New York City are some of the safest jurisdictions in the country with crime rates that have fallen since Governor Hochul took office in 2021.
-New York State has the LOWEST homicide rate of the top 10 most populous states in the U.S. and HALF the national average; its homicide rate is lower than Florida, Texas, Georgia and Arizona among other states.
-New York City has the SECOND LOWEST crime rate of the top 10 most populous cities in the U.S., lower than Houston, Dallas and San Antonio among other cities.
-Comparing the first five months of the year, murders are down 41% since 2021:
-Comparing the first five months of the year, shootings are down 54% since 2021:
–NYC.gov: NYPD ANNOUNCES RECORD LOW SHOOTINGS AND MURDERS FOR THE FIRST FIVE MONTHS OF 2025
-“Police Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch today announced that from January 2025 through May 2025, New York City experienced the lowest number of shootings and murders in recorded history and set the record for the lowest number of shootings and murders in May. New York City also experienced the safest Memorial Day on record, with the lowest number of shootings ever across the entire weekend and the first Memorial Day Sunday with zero shootings. These historic numbers helped drive the eighth straight month of declines in major crime categories with a 4.9% drop in May 2025 compared to the same time last year.”
–NYC.gov: NYPD ANNOUNCES HISTORIC CRIME REDUCTIONS IN FIRST QUARTER OF 2025 WITH FEWEST SHOOTING INCIDENTS IN RECORDED HISTORY
-“These historic declines in violence were accompanied by major crime reductions in every patrol borough with index crime down 10.9%. In this quarter, robbery dropped 22.8% (3,074 vs. 3,981), grand larceny declined 13.7% (10,226 vs. 11,855), auto theft was down 11.9% (2,773 vs. 3,148), burglary was down 4.4% (3,043 vs. 3,184), and felony assault fell 2.7% (6,361 vs. 6,535).”
–cdc.gov: According to the latest available CDC data, New York State has the lowest homicide rate of the 10 most populous states in the country.
FALSE CLAIM: New York’s leaders are soft-on-crime and have not taken action to protect the people of the state.
FACT: Governor Hochul’s top priority is public safety and she has invested over $2.6 billion in gun violence prevention and other public safety initiatives.
–Times Union: Hochul unveils $252B budget with focus on cost of living, crime
-“Her budget would include $77 million to increase police on subway platforms and on trains during overnight hours. She is also calling to expedite the expenditure of $400 million toward continuing the installation of fixed cameras in prisons across the state’s correctional system, with nearly $20 million allocated for expanding body-worn cameras for correction officers.”
–WKBW: Gov. Hochul announces millions in public safety funding for local law enforcement agencies
-“Gov. Hochul announced Wednesday $50 million of funding for public safety efforts across the state.”
-“$30 million of the funding will go towards new technologies and equipment for local law enforcement agencies, such as body cameras, storage, and software.”
–Everytown: VICTORY FOR GUN SAFETY: Governor Kathy Hochul, New York Lawmakers Include More than $350 Million in FY25 Budget Agreement for Gun Violence Prevention Programs; Moms Demand Action, Students Demand Action Respond
-“The New York chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, both part of Everytown for Gun Safety’s grassroots network, released the following statement applauding Governor Kathy Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Speaker Carl Heastie, and lawmakers for agreeing to a budget that sustains New York’s historic commitment of more than $350 million to fund gun violence prevention efforts across the state and invests in new efforts to combat violence this past weekend.”
–NY1: Subway safety plans in state budget include mental health services, more platform barriers
-“The governor touted securing $77 million in the budget to pay for the NYPD overnight patrols on every train, which the city also has to pay for. That ends on June 30 and it’s unclear whether they will continue. ‘I’ll continue that funding, and making sure we have the resources whether it’s through the city or the state or combined,’ Hochul said.”
–Statescoop: New York governor announces $127M in new funds for public safety tech
-“New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office this week announced that police departments and sheriffs’ offices outside New York City will receive $127 million for crime prevention tools and other new technology. Nearly 400 law enforcement agencies across New York will receive funding through the state’s Public Safety Grant after filing last year for additional funds to purchase new equipment. According to the grant funding announcement, police departments and sheriffs’ offices will use the funding to purchase license plate readers, mobile and fixed camera systems, computer-aided dispatch systems, software, drones, gunshot-detection devices and “smart” equipment for patrol vehicles and police officers.”
–NY Times: Building upon Governor Hochul’s record investments in proven crime prevention initiatives, the FY26 Enacted Budget includes essential, commonsense changes to New York’s Discovery Laws to support survivors, hold perpetrators accountable and safeguard the right to a fair and speedy trial. The changes will prevent cases from being thrown out over technical errors and eliminate dismissals and disruptions that have re-traumatized survivors of domestic violence and other serious crimes. There is $135 million allocated for prosecutors and defenders to ensure compliance with discovery, a year-to-year increase of $15 million.
FALSE CLAIM: New York takes a lenient approach to immigration while forcing border states like Texas to manage the influx of new arrivals.
FACT: New York State shares a border with Canada and has invested additional resources to secure its northern territory as well as stop transnational gangs and the flow of fentanyl.
–Newsday: New York allocates $8 million for Canada border security.
-“Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers agreed to earmark $8 million in the state budget for security along the U.S.-Canadian border, Hochul said in announcing a “general agreement” on a budget deal Monday night.”
-“The funds will “increase safety,” the Democrat said at a news conference, adding it will allow the state to provide “the dedicated law enforcement and technology to stop transnational criminal organizations and the trafficking of guns, drugs and people.””
-“The funding, part of a $254 billion budget, is focused on the “land border” with Canada near Plattsburgh, Jackie Bray, commissioner of the state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, told Newsday. The funds will go toward additional state police, license plate readers and drones and will be “rolled out over the next year,” she said.”
–NYP: Hochul blasts move to cut border crossing hours
-““While the Biden-Harris Administration has achieved measurable success in enhancing southern border security, New York is experiencing a dramatic increase in irregular crossings along our northern border,” she said in a statement. “We need to expand enforcement at the northern border today and I call on the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to reverse this decision.””
-“New York has redirected $5 million in federal State Homeland Security Program funding to enhance security efforts along the state’s border with Canada, Hochul said, including by purchasing additional tools to support investigations into transnational criminal organizations.”
-““While these important resources will help keep New Yorkers safe and manage the spike in illegal border crossings, greater federal support is crucial to meet the magnitude of migration we are seeing,” she said.”
–North County Now: Hochul called on the Department of Homeland Security to expand immigration enforcement at New York’s border with Canada
-““I have previously raised my concerns in meetings with the Biden-Harris Administration, and write to once again request the Department of Homeland Security immediately direct staffing and resources to expand enforcement activities along the U.S.-Canada border, and in light of this weeks actions I ask you to immediately reverse the decision to suspend 24/7 staffing along our northern border at critical locations,” she wrote.”
-“Hochul pointed to the rising number of illegal border crossings this year as a primary concern, saying it should warrant “a firmer response.” She said the historically lax policies regarding the northern border are also to blame in this case. Hochul pointed to “long-standing immigration policies of the U.S. and Canada” as a primary reason the northern border has become an “increasingly popular route for non-citizens seeking entry into the U.S.””
FALSE CLAIM: Crime on the New York City subways is spiking and commuters are abandoning the system.
FACT: Subway crime is down, and Governor Hochul is continuing to invest in law enforcement and physical infrastructure to keep commuters safe – all while ridership continues to grow.
–NYP: NYC subway crime drops to pre-pandemic levels after cops flood system: ‘Fear has really gone down’
-“Tisch, during a news conference with Mayor Eric Adams unveiling the city’s first-quarter crime statistics, said major offenses overall in the subways have dropped 18% — the second-lowest level in 27 years.”
-“There have been zero murders in our subways this quarter, the first time that that has happened since 2018,” she said, referring to the period covering the first three months of the year.”
-“Tisch responded by deploying 200 cops to trains and platforms, as well as flooding hundreds more to transit hubs in order to support a Gov. Kathy Hochul-hatched plan to put two officers on every overnight subway.”
–amNY: Subway crime continues to fall, even as high-profile cases make NYC headlines
-“Subway crime in NYC is still on a downward trend in 2025 even after a slight rise in April compared to the same month last year, according to the latest police data. “
-“Over a 28-day period that ran through April 20, transit crime increased 9% compared to the same period in 2024 — 146 crimes this year vs. 134 last year. Focusing on the middle of the month, transit crime jumped nearly 30% during the week of April 14-20 compared to the period in 2024. There were 27 crimes in the city’s public transit system during those seven days last year, compared to 35 throughout the same week in 2025.”
–PIX11: Governor Hochul has invested in cameras and other safety equipment
-“Hochul directed the MTA in 2022 to install surveillance cameras on every subway car. The governor described it as a major undertaking that was finally completed on Wednesday. “We have 100% of subway cars now equipped with cameras,” Hochul said. “We have thousands of cars, thousands of cameras … If you’re thinking of committing a crime on the subway, we’re watching and you will be caught.””
–NYT: “Ridership is up across all modes of public transit.”
-“While the number of cars on the road is down, transit ridership is up, suggesting many commuters have switched. From early January through mid-April, compared with the same time last year, ridership has increased on the bus and the subway for the M.T.A. It’s also up on the Long Island Rail Road, the Staten Island Railway and the Metro-North commuter lines that serve the northern suburbs and parts of Connecticut.”
–amNY: Congestion pricing: LIRR and Metro-North see increased ridership since Jan. 5
-“Suburban railways Metro-North and the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) saw a dramatic increase in ridership every day since the launch of congestion pricing on Jan. 5, according to state data.”
-“Metrics on the New York State open data portal show that ridership on both commuter lines is way up from the same period last year — before the tolls were in effect.”
FALSE CLAIM: New York Democrats aren’t serious about addressing immigration and are using this issue to blame their political opponents.
FACT: Governor Hochul has advocated for comprehensive immigration reform during the Biden Administration and the Trump Administration, and advocated for the bipartisan border bill that would have funded the largest investment in border security in American history.
–News 10: Gov. Hochul calls for passage of bipartisan Congressional bill
-“Governor Kathy Hochul is calling on New York Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives to pass bipartisan legislation on immigration reform, if it passes in the Senate.”
-“It is absolutely essential that we get these changes,” Hochul said at a press conference on Monday.”
-“According to Hochul, the bipartisan bill in the U.S. Senate will make asylum laws tougher and provide states and localities $1.4 billion dollars.”
–AP: What’s in the bipartisan Senate package to aid Ukraine, secure U.S. border
-“The package would also send $20 billion to immigration enforcement, providing money to hire thousands more officers to evaluate asylum claims, add hundreds of more Border Patrol agents and help stop the flow of fentanyl.”
-Congressional Republicans, many of whom serve on the House Oversight Committee, did not support the bill at the behest of then-candidate Trump to score political points.
–Chairman Comer: “Americans expect Congress to push policies that secure the border, and I will not support legislation that fails to achieve this priority.This disastrous border bill by @POTUS & @SenSchumer doubles down on failed border policies & further incentivizes illegal immigration.”
–Rep. Jordan: “Joe Biden is not going to fix a problem that he purposefully created… One sentence. No money can be used to process or release into the country any new migrants… Let’s say ‘time out’ and let the American people decide how we want to deal with this in November, when we have President Trump — who actually had control of our border — against President Biden… Let the country decide.”
–Rep. Mace: “Is this a joke? The Senate ‘border security’ The New York chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, both part of Everytown for Gun Safety’s grassroots network, released the following statement applauding Governor Kathy Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Speaker Carl Heastie, and lawmakers for agreeing to a budget that sustains New York’s historic commitment of more than $350 million to fund gun violence prevention efforts across the state and invests in new efforts to combat violence this past weekend.bill if we’re calling it that, is worse than previously thought.”
–Rep. Greene: “Pres Trump has the best border policies and the best statement on the WORST America last border surrender bill! It’s DEAD ON ARRIVAL!!”
–Rep. Boebert: “This so-called border “compromise” bill reads like a compromise between the cartels, the human traffickers and Alejandro Mayorkas. They are all salivating reading this thing. No Republican should support this absolute amnesty monstrosity that fails to actually secure the border.”
–Rep. Luna: “Any Republican who votes for this will betray the American people.”
CLAIM: New York is standing idly by while antisemitism and hate crimes are committed with impunity.
FACT: Governor Hochul has made record investments to strengthen safety and security measures for organizations facing increased risk of hate crimes.
–SILive: N.Y. Gov. Kathy Hochul announces funding to organizations at risk of hate crimes or terrorism
-“Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a new state investment of nearly $63.9 million to strengthen safety and security measures at nonprofit, community-based organizations that are considered at risk for hate crimes or attacks due to their ideologies, beliefs or missions.”
-“Available through the Securing Communities Against Hate Crimes Program, the funding will support projects and cybersecurity improvements at 336 organizations throughout New York, according to an announcement issued Tuesday.”
–NYT: Gov. Hochul Announces $75 Million to Combat Hate Crimes in New York
-“Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York announced on Tuesday up to $75 million in grants for local police departments and houses of worship in response to an uptick in reported antisemitic attacks and hate crimes against Palestinians in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war.”
-“The state will also begin a review of the antisemitism and anti-discrimination policies in New York City’s public university system, while the State Police will expand its monitoring of social media to identify online threats on college campuses.”
-““You can vigorously oppose Israel’s response following the attack on their people, but still be vigorously opposed to terrorism, Hamas, antisemitism and hate in all of its forms,” Ms. Hochul, a Democrat, said in remarks that were streamed online. “We cannot allow any New Yorker to live in fear.””
The 6,000 May Day protesters gathered at Foley Square in front of the Federal Courthouse and surrounded by federal buildings, were fired up by the surprise appearance of Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who had raced from an airport to give her energy to the labor movement amidst the unprecedented crackdown of civil and workers rights by the Trump Administration.
AOC called on them to keep the pressure on the MAGA Republican lawmakers, who have ceded their co-equal power to the dictator wannabe rather than face his ire or a primary challenge. The protests – collectively the largest in history -through the first 100 days of Trump’s presidency, have not been futile exercises. Just that day, Republicans pulled a vote to slash Medicaid by an unprecedented $888 billion. “They have stopped and suspended next week’s Medicaid cuts because they’re getting too scared,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “They see you, New York, they see the gathering.”
She urged continued vigilance, warning that they will vote again in the dead of night when they think no one is watching.
She energized the crowd, declaring that the Trump administration is much more prepared and planned this time around in terms of the kinds of chaos that they’re trying to unleash. More than legal programs, more than policy, they are trying to invokefear.
“That is how authoritarianism works. These are the tools to get us to sacrifice and surrender our civil liberties, more than they take them.” Indeed, Trump pardoned virtually all the January 6th insurrectionists, including those who had threatened her life. “I’m not going to give them my fear,” she has told supporters. “They’re relying on us giving up. Hell no.”
We’re going to keep standing with trans people. We’re going to keep standing with the LGBT community. We’re going to keep standing for the working class. We’re going to keep fighting for a better minimum wage. We’re going to keep fighting to guarantee healthcare.
The issues that have dominated the anti-Trump protests that have been virtually constant were present here too – Hands Off public education with huge contingents of protesters from colleges and teachers unions and immigrant rights.
And typical of May Day protests were the demands by workers, but the Tax the Rich and Down with Billionaires themes more vitriolic and urgent. You get the feeling that if Trump is not stopped in his march toward authoritarianism, there will be an equally strong backlash. One cannot but think that Trump is hoping for these protests to get even more animated and violent, so he can declare martial law under the Insurrection Act and snuff out the last vestige of opposition, after decimating the judicial system, the Congress, a free press (he just signed an order canceling federal spending for NPR and PBS).
The May Day protest, an annual rite in New York City, featured the city’s labor unions, students and educators, a huge contingent of pro-Palestinian protesters, and were joined by those standing against encroachment of power, rise of autocracy and Fascism, and standing up for due process, democracy, public education, healthcare, immigrant rights, social security and Medicaid and healthcare.
Many protesters exclaimed support for immigrants, for students whose visas were cancelled and arrested for exercising free speech, and for Khalil Abrego Garcia specifically, wrongly deported to an El Salvador gulag without due process, as the face of a victim of a tyranny.
Veronica Salama, the New York Civil Liberties Union staff attorney who is part of the legal team representing Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, condemned Trump for separating Khalil from his family and said Khalil’s arrest violated the first amendment.
The protesters marched down Broadway, ending at the Charging Bull, the iconic image of Wall Street, to emphasize the message on many of the signs: Send Billionaires to Mars, Tax the Rich, Fight Fascism.
New York City’s May Day protest was one of more than 1000 in more than 800 cities and towns across the country, and the second that day at Foley Square (some 3,000 lawyers came out in front of the federal court during Law Day, an annual affirmation of the Rule of Law), plus several others around the city, organized and promoted by multiple organizations. They have realized that only through solidarity can they fulfill their individual goals. The overarching message: “Together we win.”
Hallie Brenner Perles, co-leader of Show Up Long Island and an organizer of the Long Island protest, stated, “Authoritarians like Trump and Musk want to divide us and to appeal to the smallest, cruelest, and most selfish impulses of humanity. That’s the only way they can win. But we still live in a democracy. And right now we can choose to care, to stand up for each other, to seek truth and facts over lies, to know that an attack on any groups’ human rights is an attack on all. We can choose empathy and the courage to acknowledge these are not normal times so we won’t pretend that they are. We will continue to nonviolently protest all that is wrong with this administration as heroes have done before us. Then some day books will be written that tell our story: that when our country, our children and the world needed us, so many Americans in all 50 states stood together on the right side of history. “
“This was by far the largest, most widespread May Day action in the history of our country,” MayDayStrong.org reported. “The billionaires are waging a war on working people—and on May Day, international workers’ day, hundreds of thousands of us stood together and stood strong, fighting for public schools over private profits, healthcare over hedge funds, shared prosperity over free market politics. Working people built this nation and we know how to take care of each other. We won’t back down—we will never stop fighting for our families and the rights and freedoms that ensure access to opportunity and a better life for all Americans. Their time is up.”
Numerous protests are upcoming with another national day of protest slated for June 14th organized by 50501.org: They are looking to “amass in spectacular numbers for the “Anti-Regime Day of Protest” and counter the massive (6600 soldiers! 150 vehicles, 50 helicopters! 2,000 civilians!) and massively expensive ($92 million!) military parade Trump, in true dictator fashion, is organizing for his 79th birthday, even as he orders cuts to Medicaid resulting in hospitals laying off healthcare workers.
At its protest in suburban Long Island, Hallie Brenner Perles, co-leader Show Up Long Island, declared, “Authoritarians like Trump and Musk want to divide us and to appeal to the smallest, cruelest, and most selfish impulses of humanity. That’s the only way they can win. But we still live in a democracy. And right now we can choose to care, to stand up for each other, to seek truth and facts over lies, to know that an attack on any groups’ human rights is an attack on all. We can choose empathy and the courage to acknowledge these are not normal times so we won’t pretend that they are. We will continue to nonviolently protest all that is wrong with this administration as heroes have done before us. Then some day books will be written that tell our story: that when our country, our children and the world needed us , so many Americans in all 50 states stood together on the right side of history.”
Let the protesters speak for themselves. Here are highlights from the New York City May Day protest:
Some 20,000 turned out in New York City with little notice only two weeks after the gigantic nationwide “Hands Off” protest on April 5 which drew some 3 million people nationwide – way more than anticipated considering that 100,000 flooded Manhattan streets only two weeks ago.
“No Kings”. March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
This protest, organized by 50501 NY, was themed a “March to Protect Migrants and the Planet” and while these were the most prevalent among the signs and the marchers, even more were the signs protesting against encroaching tyranny, fascism, the need to protect democracy, due process, free speech, and calls to Resist, Rebel, “Revolution 2.0” along with signs protesting for women’s rights, Hands Off Social Security, Medicare, healthcare, protect science, protect truth, against tariffs (the penguins were back)
“It’s the Constitution Stupid” and “Make Corruption Wrong Again”
“It’s the Constitution, Stupid”. March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
This event took place on the 250th anniversary of Pau Revere’s Midnight Ride – a woman held a sign “250 years ago-and today- let the warning ride forth once more: Tyranny is at our door.”
“250 Years Ago-And Today.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Others drew parallels: “No Kings. Not in 1775. Not in 2025.”
“No Kings in America.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
(April 19 is also the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing, and the WACO – two of the worst incidents of domestic terrorism.)
The line of marchers stretched a mile, taking over 42nd Street from Fifth to Madison, and then Madison Avenue up to 57 street, and Fifth Avenue into Central Park where the march ended.
“Mein Trumpf”. March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
There were people of all ages, people using walkers, wheelchairs, fearful of losing Social Security or Medicare; families with young children, afraid for the future of the planet, let alone the economy – an indication of the extent of the harms – basically to every constituency except his billionaire and corporate donors – Trump, Musk, DOGE and MAGA have inflicted in less than 100 days in office.
“Wanted! Crimes Against Democracy.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
The fear and anxiety over Trump rapidly imposing a fascist autocracy is not unwarranted – it took Hitler only 53 days to replace Germany’s constitutional democracy with his Nazi dictatorship and only 10 years between his inauguration to the Final Solution in which he exterminated 6 million Jews and millions of others and sunk the world into war. Trump has been in office 89 days, but between his ignoring court orders, deporting individuals to foreign gulags without due process, snatching people from the street, attacking judges, journalists, law firms and academia, many drew the parallels to genocidal autocrats of the past.
“Fight Ignorance. Not Immigrants.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Though smaller in number than two weeks ago, these chanters were more angry and not above using profanity in chants and on signs. People are pissed.
“First it’s immigrants, then…” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
The April 19 protests nationwide were organized by the 50501 Movement, a grassroots initiative. Some 700 protests were planned, to “sustain resistance in order to make a difference” and keep the momentum of the massively successful April 5 “Hands Off” protests that by some estimates drew 5 million across the U.S.
Here are more photo highlights:
Indivisible Brooklyn “fabulously fighting fascism!” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Hands Off Our Bodies, Our Freedom, Our Democracy.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Revolution 2.0” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Resist.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Resist.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Due Process Now!” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Wicked” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Our Power. Our Planet. Our People” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Tell Old Pharoah: Let My People Go!” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Jews Against Deportation.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Hands Off Public Health, Medicare & Medicaid.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Billionaires Profit Off Climate Chaos.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Save our Land. Stop the Destroyer.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Rotten Oranges Belong in the Compost Bin, Not the Oval Office.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Who is Safe?” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“This is what autocracy looks like.! March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Hands Off! Immigrants. Our Free Speech.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“A National Disgrace.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Consequences.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Make America America Again.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Wanted” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Vote or Watch Democracy Die.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Super Callus Fascist Sexist Nazi POTUS.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Save the Planet.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Republicans Destroying America.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“No Deportations.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Get Off Fossil Fuels.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Hands Off DEI! Education!” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Families protest to save the future. March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Make America Broke Again.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Worst President Ever.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Our City. Our Earth. Our Future.” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Rebel Baby Rebel” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
“Turd Reich No!” March to Protect Migrants and the Planet, NYC, April 19, 2025, organized by 50501ny.org (c) Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
It is a testament to the respect and appreciation for New York’s AAPI community that elected officials from federal, state down to the most local government turned out to the Flushing, Queens, Lunar New Year parade to celebrate the Year of the Snake. Among them: US Senator Chuck Schumer, Congresswoman Grace Meng, Governor Hochul, Attorney General Letitia James, Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, state legislators, borough presidents, NYC councilmembers.
They spoke of how immigrants and diversity have contributed to the community, the state’s and the nation’s prosperity, applauded the success of the Flushing, Queens Asian community, and stood up for immigrants. They also applauded the significant achievement, after 20 years of prodding, that New York State made the Lunar New Year a state holiday – something that now Congresswoman Grace Meng began.
The whole celebratory tone of the parade – and the state’s support for diversity – is in contrast with the measures by Trump and his Project 2025 handlers to eliminate DEI (diversity,m equity, inclusion) from federal programs; the Defense Department under the White Nationalist Hegseth, has dispensed with celebrations of acknowledgements of everything from Black History Month and MLK Day, to Pride, and Trump went so far as to blame the recent Washington DC airline crash – the first fatal air crash in 16 years – on DEI policies. Trump blames everything else on immigration.
Peter Tu, executive director of the Flushing Chinese Business Association which organizes the parade/event, declared, “We are New York. We are America. We are as American as everyone else” and later added, “I’m an American. I love this country.”
Governor Kathy Hochul praised the community’s resilience after the coronavirus pandemic. “You fought back. We celebrate you” and pointed to the victory of a state-wide holiday for the Lunar New Year, which has wider impact than among the AAPI community, but provides “an opportunity for everyone to learn about this diverse community. They can’t take that away.”
Attorney General Letitia James committed to fighting to protect birthright citizenship, as enshrined in the Constitution. “We will defend immigrants. The Attorney General is on your side.
Queens Boro President Donovan Richards, Jr. said, “We have a lot to protect: immigrant rights, civil rights, human rights, LGBTQ rights. We will uphold our values, our Queens values, even as we battle the white house. We are the most diverse county in the United States. We will defend that.”
U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer, the former Majority Leader and now Minority leader, pointed to how powerful the AAPI community is , and pointing to his red hat and red socks, he joked “I am red from head to toe.”
But turning serious, Schumer said, “I believe strongly in this community, your future, the ladders for your children – the SAT is a ladder up for those without much money who want a better life. … You are our future. Your values – hard work, education, family, children climbing up the ladder, respect for elders, safe streets.”
He noted that with help of Congresswoman Grace Meng, the Congress passed the Asian Anti-Hate Act. And though he is now the Minority Leader, “I still have clout” and met with President Xi of China, and the presidents of Taiwan and Korea. “We need to work together, to have a strong relationship, for peace.”
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz praised the NYPD for keeping the borough safe – safe for parades, safe for parents. This parade, she said, celebrates the people who came before, while assimilating into America.
John Liu, the first Asian elected to City Council, now a state senator, noted that the statewide designation of Lunar New Year holiday “is part of the progress our community is making.”
NYC Comptroller Brad Lander noted that New York City has the largest Asian, and the largest Chinese population outside China. The Asian community, along with the Jewish, Dominican, Black and all the different heritages, “make out city a great city, the best for immigrants. We must protect all. All New Yorkers deserve to live in safety.”
This is the year of the Snake – the 6th of the 12 animal signs in the lunar calendar. The snake symbolizes renal and change, and the qualities of wisdom, calmness, determination, adaptability, mystery and transformation.
The celebration of the Lunar New Year dates back thousands of years, founded in the agricultural cycle and marking the period of time when farmers could take a rest from their work in the fields to be with their families.
In her proclamation to the FCBA, Governor Hochul noted “New York State is home to many Asian American Pacific Islander communities and we join in commemorating their most significant holiday rooted in ancient history and tradition as we welcome the arrival of Lunar New Year 4723 and share in festivities and celebrations to mark this joyous occasion.
“Our AAPI communities contribute significantly to American society and we recognize it is important that their ancestral heritage is passed down to younger generations; in 2023, I proudly signed legislation that designates lunar New Year as an official school holiday across New York State, providing a meaningful opportunity for children in the AAPI community to participate in an event that is such an inherent part of their culture, and to share with others one of the most beautiful holidays celebrated worldwide.”
Here are more highlights from the 2025 Lunar New Year Parade in Flushing, Queens:
The night after Christmas, New York City was teaming with people, actually queuing up on the street for a turn to enter stores, jamming holiday markets, cafes, enjoying Christmas decorations. But they had to walk past people camped out on the street in freezing temperature.
The New York Times just reported that the number of people experiencing homelessness topped 770,000, an increase of more than 18 percent over last year and the highest on record. The causes include the end of COVID protections against eviction and aid programs, the abusive mishandling of migrants by Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, literally trafficking and dumping people in cities led by Democrats, the obstruction of Republicans to pass border security and immigration reform so that these people making a legal claim for asylum cannot be processed in a timely way, and on top of that, the high cost of housing and lack of affordable housing.
Kamala Harris’campaign offered ways to address the problem, targeting housing affordability in an Opportunity Economy agenda, aimed at an economy, and a society, in which people “thrive, not merely survive.”
Instead, a slight majority of voters chose faux-populist dictator-wannabe Trump, richest-man-in-the-world Elon Musk and the Project 2025 approach: slashing the social safety net altogether to shave $2 trillion from federal spending (one-third of the budget), which means Head Start, food stamps, Medicaid, public health, public education, Pell grants, Medicare and Social Security. (So-called “discretionary spending” totals $1.7 trillion.)
“We have to reduce spending to live within our means,” Musk said. “And, you know, that necessarily involves some temporary hardship, but it will ensure long-term prosperity” for him and the other billionaires.
Here’s what that looked like in New York City on the Night after Christmas:
