Estimates of more than 2,000 turned out in the rain for the No Kings rally and march at Nassau County Courthouse on June 14 – just one of several No Kings protests on Long Island.
Long Island’s protests were among the 2,100 taking place in all 50 states and the world that collectively drew an estimated 5 million in response to the authoritarian excesses and corruption of the Trump administration and rejecting Trump’s attacks on democracy and the Rule of Law, for one of the largest single days of protest since the 2017 women’s marches in Trump’s first term.
“The power of the presidency has been used to attack universities, the arts, political adversaries and the very fabric of our democracy,” wrote the organizers, Show Up LI, Engage LI, Long Island Network for Change. “It has been used to terrorize our immigrant communities and disappear them off the streets. It has been used to decimate the ranks of our federal employees who keep us safe, oversee our social security checks, care for our veterans, develop cancer treatments, monitor severe weather, attend to disasters and maintain our national parks. Disastrous cuts to the services and healthcare hard-working and vulnerable Americans rely on are on the horizon. The painful ramifications of these senseless cuts are being felt across the country while enriching a cabinet of billionaires and their allies.”
The No Kings protests were a counterpoint to Trump’s $45 million military parade, ostensibly to mark the formation of the U.S. Army on June 14, 1775 by the Continental Congress, to stand up against Britain’s monarch who claimed absolute power over the colonists, but actually for his own glory on his 79th birthday. Trump had been mooning over such a display – extraordinary in American history and more typical of tyrants and dictators – since his first term, when more patriotic advisers than surround him this time talked him out of it. The $45 million boondoggle is also a harsh contradiction to the millions of dollars cut from veterans benefits, health care, education, research, climate action, foreign aid, and administration of such critical programs as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid in order to fund billions more in tax cuts for the richest 1% and corporations.
“So on June 14th 2025, we come together to say NO KINGS in America. We say no to the cruelty and the chaos. Our country belongs to the American people and we will peacefully stand up to authoritarianism and defend our democracy.”
Speakers included Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado, NYS Deputy Speaker Assemblyman Phil Ramos, and NYS Assemblyman Chuck Lavine.
NYS Assemblyman Chuck Lavine began his remarks by mourning the political assassination of Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, and the critical wounding of Rep. John Hoffman and his wife – an event which prompted U.S. Senator Mike Lee to tweet “This is what happens When Marxists don’t get their way,” when Speaker Mike Johnson called for U.S. Senator Alex Padilla to be censored for daring to ask DHS Secretary Kristy Noem a question during a press conference, at which point he was thrown to the ground and handcuffed, and while in Los Angeles, law enforcement continued to provoke encounters with otherwise peaceful protesters, no doubt to give Trump an excuse to invoke the Insurrection Act and declare martial law. Raising the danger to our democracy, Lavine could also have quoted Noem who stated about the provocations in Los Angeles, “We are staying here to liberate this city from the socialist & burdensome leadership that this governor & this mayor have placed into this city” and just a couple of days before, U.S. Senator Padilla was thrown to the ground and handcuffed merely for trying to ask Homeland Security Sec Kristy Noem a question at a press conference.
It was a reminder that since Trump first entered the political scene 10 years ago down a gilded staircase, he used bigotry, sexism, xenophobia, scapegoated, stoked hatred and violence and basically gave permission for those to act on the grievances he created. And record numbers of threats and assaults have occurred as a result, including the January 6 2021 insurrection intended to keep Trump in office. (Notably, Trump pardoned 1,500 of the insurrectionists on his first day, and has weaponized the Justice department against the prosecutors and scores of his declared enemies and politicized the military.)
“You are not fair-weather sailors,” Lavine said as people stood steadfast as rain poured down. “We are here because we care, and if you care about the future of American democracy — you join us.”
Deputy Speaker Phil Ramos denounced the Trump administration’s escalating attacks on immigrant communities and railed against Trump’s $45 million military parade. “While mothers in Brentwood are praying that their children make it home safely, while ICE agents tear fathers from their families without warrants, Donald Trump is having a birthday party — let that sink in,” Ramos said.
Ramos’ impassioned remarks echoed his previously issued a statement after the militarism in Los Angeles and ICE raids in Long Island “America-and the world-witnessed what we have long feared: the unchecked abuse of presidential power unleashed against communities of color. Families are being torn apart. People are being taken without explanation, without warrants, and far too often, without due process. What remains is a trail of fear, heartbreak, and outrage….The painful truth is we can no longer trust this administration to uphold the law, respect the courts, or honor basic human dignity….
“In Los Angeles and here on Long Island, people are marching in defense of their families, their dignity, and their right to live without fear. They are standing against an authoritarian tide gaining strength each day. And when masked officers descend on our neighborhoods, abducting loved ones and escalating tensions with military force, we must ask: what choice do the people have but to resists?
“The tools of authoritarianism are in full effect. While 1% of the population hoards 99% of the nation’s wealthy, they poison our drinking water, erode our democracy, and drive the cost of living to unbearable heights. They gut our healthcare system and dismantle the foundations of everyday life. And yet, President Trump wants us to believe the blame lies not with the powerful but with the people who build our cities, harvest our food, mow our lawns, wash our dishes and hold this country together through honest, back-breaking work…
“We cannot fall for these cruel, calculated lies. We must reject this propaganda and speak the truth: immigrants are not the problem, they are part of the solution.
“The people are demanding an end to these raids. They are demanding justice. Many are prepared to risk their own safety to protect their families because for them, this is a should understand that. We must support peaceful protest, and wemust demand an end to this campaign of fear.
“We are at a turning point in our nation’s history. We must condemn the use of ICE and the National Guard as political tools deployed by a president who thrives on hate, division and fear, and who undermines constitutional rights and human dignity for political gain. This is not leadership. This is cruelty disguised as policy…
“I call on all freedom-loving people-Democrats and Republicans, Black, White, Latino, Asian – to stand in solidarity with our immigrant communities. History has taught us a painful lesson… We cannot-we must not – turn our backs on those now suffering these fascist assaults.”
Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado said, “No one is above the law” and every person is entitled to “equal protection under law. Without the Rule of Law, the most vulnerable would be trampled, the mighty would take what they want. But that’s not America. Democracy is based on a moral idea that all are created equal. If we lose sight of that moral essence, we will crumble. In New York, we are diversity, we are inclusion, we are tolerance. We are the essence of what it means to be American, what it means to be human.”
Rachel Klein, founder of Engage Long Island and an organizer of the rally, said immigration raids across the country has stoked fear, even on Long Island. “There are people in Brentwood and Westbury and Huntington Station and Glen Cove who are afraid to leave their homes right now,” she said. “We can’t function as a society like this.”
Other No Kings protests were held in Port Washington, which drew hundreds; outside Heckscher Park in Huntington, where Newsday reported 2,000; Patchogue, where Newsday estimated 2,000 demonstrated outside the local office of Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport), Riverhead, Orient, East Hampton, Hampton Bays and Southampton.
Rain did not deter the well over 50,000 New Yorkers from coming out for the “No Kings Protest” – just one of the more than 2100 protests taking place in all 50 states and around the world that drew an estimated 5 million, in one of the largest single day protests since 2017’s Women’s March against Trump and Trumpism.
They gathered as the target of their ire, the man who would be king, Donald Trump, watched his long-dreamed military parade march passed his viewing stand in Washington DC, a $45 million vanity show ostensibly to honor the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army that coincided with his 79th birthday.
June 14th is also Flag Day, and the protesters felt it appropriate to assert their rights and freedoms the flag is supposed to represent and that so many died defending.
Among the coordinators of the New York City No Kings Protest were Indivisible, Moveon, 50501, NYCLU, and Womens March.
“They’ve defied our courts, deported Americans, disappeared people off the streets, attacked our civil rights, and slashed our services. The corruption has gone too. far. No thrones. No crowns. No kings.” Wrote Indivisible
Womens March chose to adopt the theme of Trump as a Clown: “When authoritarianism shows its face, we don’t cower. We shine light—and sometimes that light is a spotlight on smeared-on orange makeup. Ridicule isn’t trivial; it’s courageous. And right now, that courage might be the best weapon we have.”
There was music. There was a bit of dancing. There were humorous digs at the wannabe dictator (a theme advocated by Womens March). And most of all, a sense of unity, camaraderie, and community in the shared desire to reclaim democracy, decency, governance by Rule of Law, and the values of equality that this country was founded upon and still striving toward.
Notable to me were the number of people in wheelchairs who nonetheless marched in the rain, but also the extraordinary kindness shown by New Yorkers crammed together on the city streets.
Though planned weeks ago, the protests that swept the nation took on an added commitment and determination after the actions of the Trump administration in defying court orders and Constitution’s due process protections in violently rounding up migrants, even those with legal status and US citizen spouses and children, for deportation, branding them all as worst of the worst criminals and gangmembers, the DOGE cuts to public services, the attacks on academic freedom, the politicization of the military, the political assault on Democrats, judges and anyone else who Trump doesn’t like, as he pardons actual criminals and terrorists and dismisses investigations and prosecutions against his friends, allies and donors, the weaponization of his law enforcement, the breaking of alliances, the derailment of the economy with his unhinged tariff policies, and general descent into fascism, oligarchy and kleptocracy.
Add to the list the attacks on free speech, free press, taking money from foreign interests and felons for pardons and policies, overt violations of laws including using the active military for domestic law enforcement, instituting tariffs and rescinding funding which are powers of Congress, not the president, attempting to overturn voting rights and birthright citizenship prescribed by the Constitution with the stroke of a Sharpie.
All of these issues were manifest in the banners, posters, hand-drawn signs that got soaked in the rain. But no one seemed to care.
The gathering on June 14th took on even more significance as Trump and his administration’s violent rhetoric (Kristy Noem stating “We are staying here to liberate this city from the socialist & burdensome leadership that this governor & this mayor have placed into this city”) was followed by the political assassination of a Minnesota Democratic state representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, and the critical wounding of Rep. John Hoffman and his wife (effectively changing a tied legislature with shared control into a Republican majority) while in Los Angeles, law enforcement continued to provoke encounters with otherwise peaceful protesters, and just a couple of days before, U.S. Senator Padilla was thrown to the ground and handcuffed merely for trying to ask Homeland Security Sec Kristy Noem a question at a press conference.
No Kings Day proved to be one of the largest days of protest in American history, with some 5 million taking part in some 2,100 cities and towns across all 50 states and several foreign countries (Indivisible.org)
No Kings Day proved to be one of the largest days of protest in American history, with some 5 million taking part in some 2,100 cities and towns across all 50 states and several foreign countries. “From deep red small towns to our largest cities, millions of people turned out to make clear that the American people will not bow to fascism,” Indivisible stated. “It is a frightening time in our history. But in spite of that reality — or rather, in response to that reality — over five million people here in the US, along with allies in cities from London to Tokyo, stood united today in the belief that democracy is worth fighting for.”
While the protesters were all peaceful, even joyful, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz pleaded that the planned No Kings protests not be held in light of the gunman, who had a kill list and “No Kings” flyers in his car, still being on the loose, and there was an incident of shots causing a panic in Salt Lake City. And Indivisible discouraged an official “No Kings” protest in Washington DC, amid Trump’s threats to stamp out dissent with force, though some smaller ones did take place.
“Trump has made no secret of his willingness to use force to crush dissent. He’s got tanks rolling through DC and marines in Los Angeles where we’ve all seen (and continue to see) police respond aggressively to peaceful protests.”
Also, Trump has made no secret he is salivating over the prospect of invoking the Insurrection Act, declaring martial law, to unleash military force throughout the country (that is, in cities, towns and states run by Democrats). In his first term, he wondered why his soldiers couldn’t just shoot protesters, but while his Defense Secretary and generals at the time discouraged him, this Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, equally violent and fascist, would likely greenlight whatever he was told.
But, as Indivisible wrote, “a massive, nationwide mobilization like today can change the narrative, grow our movement, build our organizing muscles, and deliver a jolt of courage — something much needed after Trump’s recent attempts to quash dissent with violence. But a single day of protest — even historically large protests like today — will not alone defeat the fascist takeover of our government. We need to ensure that the incredible organizing and inspiring courage of today’s protests continue to spread. We need to do the hard work of organizing those who turned out today and those who were watching into a sustained, broad-based movement that’s prepared for the hard work that comes ahead.”
Womens March is already planning the next action, most likely July 4th Free America action—rallies, BBQs, marches, art builds, community block parties, and more to celebrate real freedom.
Here are highlights from New York City’s No Kings Protest:
One of my favorite events of Summer in the City is the annual Museum Mile Festival, when eight of New York City’s finest cultural institutions throw open their doors, and the Avenue becomes one big block party.
It’s so popular, that it is best to plan ahead. I did have a plan, which I wound up throwing out the door, and letting serendipity take hold.
Insider tip: Come early and start at the Met Museum (NYS residents pay what they wish). It wasn’t my original plan, but I found that I was at the Museum at around 4:30 pm, knowing it would close at 5 pm and reopen at 6 when the festival began. Instead of spending the half hour walking up to 103rd, and being there an hour before that museum opened for the festival,
“The Scourged Back” (1863), attributed to William D. McPherson, “arguably the most devastating of all known Civil War-era portraits of enslaved individuals… was widely distributed by abolitionists as a visceral argument against the horrors of enslavement.”
“Laundress with Washtub,” 1860s, “In this exceptionally rare occupational portrait, we see something nearly invisible in the photographic record prior to the 20th century: a woman at work at home.”
“Nineteenth-century photographers produced thousands of portraits of Native Americans during the time when the U.S. government enacted policies that forcibly displaced Indigenous communities and impeded their ways of living.” These photos “allow viewers today to witness how individuals under near-constant duress attempted to contend with those holding power.”
I decided to see the Met’s “The New Art: American Photography, 1839–1910” (on through July 20). This exhibit offers a fascinating examination into the beginnings of photography and its relation to society and culture, through its various technology incarnations (daguerreotypes, tintypes, etc), made even more interesting by the notes about the subjects or photographer or why the photograph was so notable.
But then, when they closed the museum, I was told we could stay in the sections that would be open for the festival. It was incredible to wander through halls – the Egyptian rooms and Temple of Dendur, with just a few people – the quiet was extraordinary. Unfortunately, I was not able to see the Sargent and Paris exhibit (was not open for the festival), which explores the early career of American painter John Singer Sargent “from his arrival in Paris in 1874 as a precocious 18-year-old art student through the mid-1880s, when his infamous portrait Madame X was a scandalous success at the Paris Salon.” (Through Aug. 3). See https://www.metmuseum.org/.
I get time alone with a few of my favorites at the Met, the Tiffany fountain and windows in the American Wing.
By the time I left the Met with a plan to walk the Museum Mile up to 103rd and start at the Museum of the City of New York (always one of my favorites), the band had already started playing on the Met’s grand staircase and the festival was just beginning to get underway.
I pass the Guggenheim Museum at 89th St., where the “street art” activity is a group of body painters – literally, they are painting each other’s nude bodies. What is amazing is that while drawing a crowd of onlookers, it isn’t really gawking, but artistic appreciation – kind of evocative of Gaugin.
Further on, I spot a banner announcing the exhibit at the Jewish Museum, “The Book of Esther in the Age of Rembrandt,” and was beyond intrigued. It is just 6 pm with the doors just opening when I get in. The exhibit is breathtaking – showing how the story of Queen Esther resonated with the Dutch in this time, who heralded her as a hero of their own independence from Spain (after an 80-year war), and how the story of how she saved the Jews from annihilation pervaded Dutch culture.
Rembrandt’s depiction of Queen Esther, on view at the Jewish Museum’s exhibit, “The Book of Esther in the Age of Rembrandt.”
“Rembrandt and his Wife Saskia” c 1638 attributed to Ferdinand Bol, one of his most talented pupils.“If the couple is indeed Rembrandt and his wife Saskia, the composition demonstrates how artists modeled Esther from contemporary life, combining elements from the ancient past and their present to highlight the continued relevance of this biblical story.”
There are stunning paintings by Rembrandt and his contemporaries depicting Esther – even more fascinating because during this period, the Netherlands had begun their Golden Age of Sail and were trading with the Mideast, so the paintings depict genuine objects, though mixed into a Dutch context. I was reminded that Netherlands, after winning independence from Catholic Spain instituted religious freedom and many Jews escaping the Inquisition in Spain and Portugal settled there. The notes are excellent, but you can also download a digital guide transcript.
“Widely read in the 17th century, the Book of Esther offered a dramatic biblical subject for Dutch artists. The Dutch interpreted the story of Esther’s bravery as a symbol of the Netherlands’ newly won independence from Spain. Rembrandt was part of a larger cultural trend that reimagined this story for the new century, new secular art market, and new national purpose. Rembrandt’s naturalistic approach to biblical paintings and his talent for capturing human emotion made Esther highly accessible to his audience,” write Abigail Rapoport, curator of Judaica Jewish Museum, and Michele Frederick, curator of European Art, North Carolina museum of Art, Raleigh.
“Haman Begging the Mercy of Esther,” 1618 or 1619 by Pieter Lastman, Rembrandt’s teacher, use table settings over a Middle Eastern carpet that would have graced a wealthy Dutch table, as the same time, foreign motifs such as turbaned figures push the scene into the fantastical setting that Dutch artists often used when imaging the Book of Esther.
“Haman Begging the Mercy of Esther,” 1618 or 1619 by Pieter Lastman, Rembrandt’s teacher, use table settings over a Middle Eastern carpet that would have graced a wealthy Dutch table, as the same time, foreign motifs such as turbaned figures push the scene into the fantastical setting that Dutch artists often used when imaging the Book of Esther.
“Against this backdrop, Rembrandt and his contemporaries expressed Esther’s story in paintings, prints, drawings, objects for the home, Jewish ceremonial art, and theater. Presenting works that range form portraits of queen Esther to prim plays, this exhibition illuminates the Book of Esther’s meaning in Rembrandt’s time and for generations to follow,” Abigail Rapoport, curator of Judaica Jewish Museum, and Michele Frederick, curator of European Art, North Carolina museum of Art, Raleigh.” (On view through Aug. 10)
Ben Shahn’s “Everyman” is part of the Jewish Museum’s Ben Shahn, On Nonconformity exhibit, on view through October 12
“For Full Employment after the War, Register, Vote [Welders] 1944”. Ben Shahn’s social and political activism such as this call to register to vote resonate today. An exhibit of 175 of his works, Ben Shahn, On Nonconformity, is on view at the Jewish Museum through October 12.
The icing on the cake at the Jewish Museum is another spectacular exhibit: Ben Shahn, On Nonconformity, who used his art for social justice in ways that are unnervingly relevant today. The 175 artworks and objects form the 1930s to the 1960s show how this prolific and progressive artist chronicled and confronted crucial issues from the Great Depression to the Vietnam War, to Civil Rights and Workers Rights. “The exhibition draws its title from Ben Shahn’s credo of “nonconformity,” which the artist asserted as an indispensable precondition for both significant artistic production and all great societal change.” (On view through Oct. 12).
Continuing on, it is fascinating to see how even non-art, non-museum institutions join the festival: there was an ingenious art display “The Art of the Brain,” sponsored by the Friedman Brain Institute, of imaging that is, well, painterly. “Art transports us, engages us, provokes though, summons deep emotions, mirrors experience, and most often, is simply beautiful.”
The New York Academy of Medicine the Church of the Heavenly Rest, Asia Society, and AKC Museum of the Dog also joined the celebration, offering fun activities for kids and chalk to make art on the avenue.
But the most fun street happenings happen just outside the Museum of the City of New York – double Dutch rope jumping, dance, music.
But I dare not tarry because the whole festival only lasts three hours.
This year, the highlight exhibit is “New York at Its Core”: Port City (1609-1898” which tells the story of New York’s transformation from a Lenape community of 2,000 people in 1609, to a Dutch trading post of 3,300 in 1660, to the King’s Seaport in 1770 with 39,313 people, to a Merchant City in 1835 after the opening of the Erie Canal, with 334,967 population, already a diverse melting pot, to a Money Metropolis in 1890 with 2,507,414. There is a map presentation that is fascinating, which documents the city during these eras by population density, diversity, and money.
A companion exhibit, World City, 1898-2020 showcases the dizzying evolution of New York as it grew into the modern global metropolis – the constant battle resisting inevitable change, the constant struggle to deal with urban challenges. It makes you think, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”
I didn’t have time to see one of my favorite exhibits, “Timescapes,” where you watch New York City’s 400-year history unfold in 30 minutes, and “Changing the Face of Democracy, about the life and legacy of Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to US Congress (closes July 20); “Songs of New York” and “Activist New York.” (See mcny.org, 1220 Fifth Ave. at 103 St, 212-534-1672).
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.””
Governor Kathy Hochul is enacting an Affordability Agenda focused on making New York State affordable, especially in housing and higher minimum wages, and reducing out-of-pocket expenses. But New York Congressional Republicans are aiding and abetting the Trump/MAGA agenda that will undue all that effort, blowing a hole in the state’s budget by cutting billions in federal aid and support for programs, despite the fact New York State sends way more to the Treasury than DC sends back to the state.
The threat to health care is particularly acute from Trump’s “Big Ugly Bill”:
More than 240,000 New Yorkers would experience higher health insurance premiums as a result of eliminating American Rescue Plan enhanced tax credits and Additional Changes
Average monthly costs could rise by more than $228 — an increase of 38% for a couple — due to elimination of Enhanced Tax Credits
Estimated 65,000 to 80,000 New Yorkers – approximately one-third of enrollees, could lose individual marketplace coverage
Governor Kathy Hochul today released new data showing the massive impact the GOP’s ‘Big Ugly’ Reconciliation Bill would have on New York families. The latest bill threatens to severely disrupt health coverage for millions of New Yorkers. In addition to increasing the number of uninsured by 1.5 million and stripping $13.5 billion in annual funding from New York’s healthcare system, the bill would trigger steep increases in private health insurance premiums for vulnerable New Yorkers and impose excessive burdens on consumers enrolling through NY State of Health, the State’s official health plan marketplace.
“The GOP’s Big Ugly bill would slash health care coverage for millions of New Yorkers and raise monthly costs by hundreds of dollars,” Governor Hochul said. “If New York’s Republican delegation won’t stand up for their own constituents, I will.”
Health care providers, insurers and state leaders across the country are sounding the alarm over the proposed legislation, which would slash billions in federal health care support. In addition to jeopardizing and in some cases entirely eliminating coverage for New York’s 1.6 million Essential Plan enrollees, the bill would trigger steep increases in costs for many New Yorkers who purchase private health insurance. The elimination of American Rescue Plan enhanced premium tax credits, alone, will increase net cost of coverage across the State by an average of 38 percent for 140,000 low-income individuals and families purchasing plans through the state’s marketplace. This equates to an increase in cost of $114 per month for an individual and $228 per month for a couple.
See below for a summary of expected premium increases due to the elimination of American Rescue Plan enhanced premium tax credits across the State:
Region
Average Monthly Cost Increase For a Couple ($)
Average Monthly Cost Increase For a Couple (%)
New York City
$211
38%
Mid-Hudson
$206
31%
Long Island
$219
32%
Capital Region
$231
33%
Western New York
$267
38%
Central New York
$256
43%
Finger Lakes
$248
42%
Mohawk Valley
$270
49%
Southern Tier
$265
48%
North Country
$253
44%
Statewide
$228
38%
The combined impact of the elimination of enhanced premium tax credits and additional provisions of the proposed U.S. House Republican reconciliation bill will push more healthy consumers out of the insurance market, leaving behind a less healthy population and driving further rate increases. This cycle will result in spiraling insurance costs and lack of access to coverage for individuals and families.
New York State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said, “The proposed cuts to federal health care support hurt everyone. These cuts take health insurance away from working New Yorkers. They undermine the progress we’ve made in providing affordable and accessible health insurance to New Yorkers. When people lose health insurance, they risk going without needed health care or suffering financial hardship.”
In addition to increasing premiums for low-income individuals and families who qualify for tax credits, it is estimated that the elimination of those tax credits will increase insurance rates for the more than 100,000 New Yorkers who purchase coverage in the individual commercial market but do not qualify for tax credits. Insurers have estimated that those consumers and families will face a 4.3 percent increase in their insurance rates next year solely due to the elimination of these credits.
Early estimates also indicate the proposed bill could result in 65,000 to 80,000 people — approximately one-third of enrollees in the individual market — losing their coverage. Many more consumers will experience significant new red tape that will make it harder to enroll in and renew coverage.
The proposed bill would also strip New York of its flexibility and autonomy in running its own marketplace and serving the needs of its residents, imposing onerous and costly new administrative burdens on the State. The State anticipates more than $10 million in new administrative costs to implement the changes required by the bill.
NY State of Health Executive Director Danielle Holahan said,“We have tremendous concerns about the compounding effects of this bill especially when combined with the expiration of the premium tax credits. Reducing eligibility for the financial assistance that helps New Yorkers afford care means people end up paying more for doctor visits, medications, and mental health care. Already struggling providers, especially in rural parts of the state, might not be able to sustain operations under this proposal, further restricting New Yorkers’ access to care.”
New York has had tremendous success over the past 12 years in operating its marketplace — with 6.7 million individuals currently enrolled in coverage — and has achieved a statewide uninsured rate of less than 5 percent, the lowest rate amongst large states across the country. This bill would reverse decades of progress in expanding coverage and making health care more affordable and accessible in New York and jeopardize the health of consumers across the State.
In the 60 years that the iconic New York Philharmonic has presented its summer concerts in city parks, 15 million people have reveled in “priceless music absolutely free” and the joy of community of sharing the lawn with 150,000 of your neighbors. The New York Philharmonic Concerts in the Parks Presented by Didi and Oscar Schaefer is an extraordinary gift to New Yorkers and visitors, presenting these free performances in parks in all five boroughs.
This tradition, which offers the official start of New York City’s summer cultural calendar, continued this year with the orchestra led by its incoming Artistic Director, Gaustavo Dudamel, who conducted the carefully curated program – the 17,196th concert on the Great Lawn – continues this week at Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx (June 5); Prospect Park, Brooklyn (June 6), and Cunningham Park, Queens, (June 7):
Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 in F-minor, Op.36, composed in 1877 after his wedding, then abandonment of his bride, and dedicated to his patron, muse and “best friend,” Nadezbda von Meck, with its “complicated” first movement, as the composer himself wrote (the program notes are fascinating).
Arturo Sandoval’s “Allegro maestoso, from Concerto for Trumpet No. 2,” with the composer himself giving a thrilling performance on the trumpet. Sandoval, Marissa Silverman writes in the notes, was imprisoned in Cuba for illegally listening to jazz. He has since gone on to be a Kennedy Center honoree and 10-time Grammy Award winner.
The New York premier of Gonzalo Grau’s “Odisea: Concerto for Venezuelan Cuatro and Orchestra, with a virtuoso performance on cuatro (a four-stringed ukulele-like instrument) by Jorge Glem, a Latin Grammy Award winner also from Venezuela. Dudamel, a fellow Venezuelan, commissioned the piece in 2021 as artistic director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
The concert concluded with selections from Stravinsky’s “The Firebird Suite,” before fireworks, which have become the traditional end to the parks concerts.
There was also a “surprise” appearance by Bernie Williams, a former professional baseball player who is now a musician, composer, philanthropist, and crusader for arts and music education, born and raised in Puerto Rico.
Leaders of Long Island’s health care, social service organizations and environmental groups warned of the damaging impacts to lives “of neighbors, family, community” as a result of the funding cuts in the Republican budget bill (known as Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill”) that passed the House in the middle of the night by a single vote. The bill, while slashing Medicaid, SNAP, clean energy projects and raising costs, delivers the needless tax cuts to the wealthiest, and will explode the national debt by $3.3 trillion.
As the Democrats on the Ways and Means Committee reported, the “GOP Tax Scam” cuts nearly $1 trillion from the health care system – effectively chipping away if not repealing entirely the Affordable Care Act – eliminating health coverage for at least 13.7 million Americans including 1.5 million New Yorkers.
The largest cut to hospitals and healthcare providers in history, will raise costs for consumers, shift costs to states and cut payments to providers, and make it harder for people to get and keep affordable health coverage.. People who no longer have access to care early and in clinics, will be forced to go to emergency rooms when they are sicker, at much higher cost. Since New York and other states guarantee access to health care, that results in higher taxes and higher premiums on private insurance – so even if you thought that these historic cuts to Medicaid would not impact you, they will.
The bill cuts a historic $700 billion in Medicaid; $267 billion in SNAP benefits; triggers $490 billion in Medicare cuts; and would result in 10 million Americans losing health insurance, all to deliver an average tax break for the top 0.1 percent of $225,000, paid for by taking away the services from millions of the most vulnerable people who will suffer from the loss in services the most, while still resulting in exploding the national debt by $3.8 trillion.
The proposed healthcare cuts in the House-passed reconciliation package represent the largest cut to hospitals and healthcare providers in history. The bill eliminates health coverage for at least 13.7 million Americans, including 1.5 million New Yorkers. It raises costs for consumers, shifts costs to states and cuts payments to providers, and makes it harder for people to get and keep affordable health coverage.
Nearly 7 million New Yorkers benefit from Medicaid. New York State estimates these changes will cost New York $13.4B per year. NYS currently spends $35.5B per year in state dollars on Medicaid.
Hospital losses in NYS will exceed $1.3B annually due to an increase in uncompensated care and reduced reimbursements. According to the Fiscal Policy Institute, Long Island will lose almost 30,000 jobs as a result.
Congressmembers Tom Suozzi and Laura Gillen, Democrats of Nassau County, brought together community leaders at the YES Community Counseling Center in Levittown, Long Island, to address the impact of cuts to Medicaid, SNAP and other essential safety net programs.
“I have serious concerns about the reconciliation and budget plan for several reasons,” said Rep. Suozzi. “Most notably, the package includes callous cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and other vital programs that support hospitals, nursing homes, and children’s care centers. These cuts will significantly undermine the delivery of healthcare services, putting access and quality of care at risk for everyone.”
“Additionally, the reconciliation package expands tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans—those who need them the least,” Suozzi continued. “While implementing these deep and harmful cuts, the budget plan also adds significantly to the national deficit.”
“I’m all for making people’s lives better with the SALT deduction, but we don’t need to cut taxes for wealthiest while taking away health insurance and food assistance from people who need it most,” Suozzi said.
People making more than $1 million per year would have an average tax cut of almost $90,000. The top 5% would receive almost half of the total tax cuts
Rep. Gillen said, “Being factual, not fear mongering, there are real life impacts these cuts will have on neighbors, friends, our own wallets. When Medicaid cuts go through, it will increase premiums on private insurance. Cuts to SNAP, to Island Harvest, will have devastating impact. When health care costs go up, parents won’t eat to have money for child’s medication.
“Be honest: all this is cost shifting scheme to make it look like they are making cuts to be fiscally responsible, but they are increasing deficit, while shifting the burden to New York State to pick up bill for what federal government will no longer be spending in New York to feed hungry. If New York has to pick up the bill, our taxes will go up in one of most highly taxed places, because we [in New York] take care of our poor, our elderly.
“What kind of country do we want to be? One that cares about the vulnerable or only cares about those who pay to play?
”There is no greater champion for eliminating waste fraud abuse [than me], but this is about putting up roadblock to those who need assistance to get ahead.” Gillen said.
This budget bill, Northwell Health CEO Michael Dowling declared, “is undermining our commitment to public health and health overall – not just hospitals and ambulatory clinics, but everything. It is a curtailment of protecting people against pollution, against commitment to dealing with gun violence, undermining major commitment to research and science across the board – 50% reduction in funding for National Institutes of Health – [engendering] the idea that science is bad, that science doesn’t work. We’re all healthier because of commitment to science of last 50 years. What is happening is undermining of trust in government, trust in organizations.
“We also see an assault on international partnerships and alliances – eliminating the alliance with the World Health Organization which provides us across the board information on what happening around world healthwise, alerting us to what might happen here.
“It is a devaluation of past successes we’ve all had. Taken all together, it sends the message we don’t care much about health, wellbeing, people’s livelihoods, especially those not at top echelon, that we can’t trust anything unless we tell you what we want you to trust,” Dowling declared.
Turning to the specifics of the budget bill, Dowling noted “the implications are larger than you think.” It will reduce revenue by $370 million; cut Medicaid by $200 million; curtailing eligibility for Medicaid will render 1.5 million people in New York ineligible for Medicaid. The bill also cuts millions from Northwell’s research. (Northwell is the largest employer in New York State.)
“It’s about what we believe in – health, environment. This is the opposite. We should be going forward, not backward – help people more, not taking away for which people fought so many years to get, and assume it doesn’t matter – it’s about a philosophy of government, about caring, it’s what you believe in. Up here, we believe America is better than this. We have got to make sure this is curtailed and can be reversed as the bill goes into the Senate,” Dowling said.
Wendy Darwell, President and CEO of Suburban Hospital Alliance of New York State, noted, “The numbers here for health care are staggering – $1 trillion in health care cuts in all, means $13.5 billion in cuts to New York State; 1.5 million will lose insurance coverage; $150 million cut a year to Nassau and Suffolk hospitals. It is not possible for New York State to absorb $13.5 billion hit without cutting benefits, eligibility, providers.
“The numbers are hard to relate to. You may think the cuts may hit somebody else, but they hit everybody. People who need care will continue regardless of insurance or not, so will come to the ER without insurance, get care in the most expensive way, probably when they are much sicker. Instead of spending a little money on coverage, we will spend a lot on emergencies, and most will get charity care. That destabilizes the healthcare infrastructure – health systems will have to respond. It will be hard to retain the level of service, the kind of access as now.
“If don’t think this applies to you, you will likely face longer wait times at the ER, less access to service in community, it will be harder to get appointments to see doctor. It cuts across the health care system.”
Most people do not realize how expansive the state’s health insurance coverage options are now because of the funding system, but could include the adult child who aged off insurance at 26 (thanks Obamacare!); a parent in nursing home. In absence of a better option, Medicaid is long term care insurance for New Yorkers.
Cuts will have impact on commercial insurance, because costs will have to be offset – if you have private insurance, you won’t be immune either. From a hospital perspective: the median operating margin in New York State 0%, so any cuts put that margin into negative.Cuts this staggering can’t be absorbed and will fundamentally destabilize the state’s healthcare system.”
Congressman Suozzi noted,”I’’m in a relatively wealthy district, yet 29% of children in my district [40% nationally] rely on Medicaid for health insurance; two out of three senior citizens in nursing homes in America are covered by Medicaid, one out of 10 of vets in America are covered by Medicaid. Think of the children, the elderly, the disabled that will be impacted by this.”
Dr. Shetal Shah, Past President of American Academy of Pediatrics NY Chapter 2 (Long Island) said, the House bill jeopardizes health of 37 million children across country at risk.
“Medicaid is foundational to children’s health in New York State – 49% of all newborns are covered by Medicaid; 44% depend upon Medicaid for life saving asthma medication…Medicaid is for all of us -not just for people more socially vulnerable.” Even if you get insurance through your employer there are annual caps on coverage. “if you are unlucky to have a newborn with congenital heart lesion, you will surpass the limits in a matter of weeks; few could afford the tens of thousands a day to care.” Medicaid can be the difference between selling a home to pay for medical debt. “It is a safety net for all of us – sad fact is most don’t think about it until we need it.”
Also, hospitals rely on each other to provide high level care across Long Island and state – children’s hospitals across Long Island are shared resources, specialized resources. Medicaid helps keep them open, but drastic cuts are a threat that hospitals will close. Then we all lose community resources – pediatric ER , specialized burn and rehabilitation, pediatric dialysis and intensive care centers.
“Make no mistake: these cuts will cause all of us to pay more; will detach children from primary care; simple problems that could be addressed in clinic become bigger problems in ER; and private insurance will raise premiums to offset costs.”
Mental health services are also jeopardized, at a time when the state and Long Island are still struggling under a mental health crisis, with overdoses and suicides.
Dr. Jeffrey Reynolds, President and CEO, Family and Children’s Association, said his agency serves 36,000 children facing drug addiction, mental health crises, and suicidal ideation.
“It’s no secret this country, this state, and Long Island struggled under mental health crisis since covid – number of overdoses – over time – more than 1 in 4 adults have demonstrated symptoms of anxiety and depression; one in six kids contemplated suicide. The single largest payer of children’s mental healthcare is Medicaid
“Things are starting to get better in attempted suicides, suicides, involuntary placements, school avoidance. It’s undeniable – one of the ways we’ve made any progress has been through Medicaid programs that support mental health, that support facilities to support kids considering taking own life. We could take a victory lap in drop in opioid overdoses – decrease in fatalities is cause to celebrate but not for too long – 30,000 didn’t die. But 80,000 Americans did die – nothing to celebrate.”
“Now is not the time to rip the rug from out from under families, hospitals, communities, folks who spent 10 years looking for hope in midst of crisis – finally have glimmer of hope only for Washington to take away. Everyday average folks should understand that this could happen to any one’s family – make sure care and treatment available, speak up now.”
(Reminder: Republicans are constantly blaming the gun violence epidemic on mental health, rather than the unconscionable easy access to weapons of war, but do nothing to provide mental health services. Instead, as Suozzi pointed out, the budget bill repeals a $200 fee and requirement to register “unusual or dangerous firearm accessories like silencers that dates from 1934, and that brought $145 million in revenue on 710,000 silencers sold in the USA in 2024. “They gut the Affordable Care Act, but make it easier to buy silencer,” Suozzi said.]
The Republican “Big Beautiful Bill” cuts funding for Narcan that has saved thousands of people who would have died from overdoses, and for drug treatment. And Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman is sitting on $100 million in federal money to address opioid addiction, noted Larry Lamendola, Co-Chair of Levittown Community Action Coalition.
The House bill would also impact more than 7000 who depend on disability services – housing, employment services, transportation, day services, and direct support from meals to medication. In New York, medicaid funds 95% of services overseen by office of disability services to organizations like AHRC, said Nicole Zerillo, Director of Strategic Communications of AHRC.
Medicaid is a shared federal and state program. When the federal share shrinks, the state has to choose whether to reduce services, put people on wait list. More staff leave, smaller providers close and people with developmental disabilities lose the supports they need to live safely.
New York spends $850 million, “but continued investment relies on a sustainable federal match. We can’t afford to backslide. Forcing people to recertify Medicaid eligibility twice year won’t improve accuracy or root out fraud, it will just limit coverage,” she said.
“The Republican Budget bill “undoes 75 years of progress to help move from institutions to inclusion [note: that is the DEI that Trump has declared “illegal.”]
“The bill risks cutting critical supports – and pushing people back to margin: protect Medicaid, right to live in community and protect the future spent generations building.”
Randi Shubin Dresner, President and CEO of Island Harvest, noted that 2.8 million New Yorkers – 14% of the population – depend on SNAP dollars. It’s not just about giving people who are vulnerable money so they can buy food. That money is spent in local supermarkets, delis, bodegas, with an $11.5 billion impact on local businesses in New York State.
The cuts in SNAP will take 9.5 billion means off the table every year, across the country. Every meal supports a person. 9.5 billion meals are at risk for our neighbors, relatives most in need.
Cuts have already impacted Island Harvest – $1.7 million in cuts has taken a million meals off the table.
“Many Long Islanders don’t qualify for SNAP benefits because the cost of living is so high on Long Island. So why in one of the richest communities, richest zipcodes, is Island Harvest helping over 200,000 people each year? Because it is one ecosystem- so if there are cuts in others – housing, mental health, Medicaid – it always means people have to make decisions about where to cut in family budget. The easiest is food budget – we eat 3 meals a day, countless parents are giving up 1 or 2 meals in order to fed children, pay med gills and transportation to doctor. If there are more cuts , they will cut more meals at home. Young mothers have to water down formula for their infant to make it through the day.”
Besides the direct impacts on health care, Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” slashes funding for clean energy and climate action, in order to force people back to relying on fossil fuels that impact health and contribute to pollution, global warming, climate change and climate disasters.
“This big ugly bill takes us back to 1960s energy policy,” declared Adrienne Esposito, Executive Director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment. “Today, we are implementing 21st century energy policy for the 21st century, tomorrow, we will be taken back to the 1960s. This bill derails the clean energy sector, one of fastest growing job ;sectors in America.”
Since Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, over 2000 new industry, manufacturing companies have been created in the U.S.; $289 billion in private sector investment; 130,000 jobs in clean energy. This bill completely eliminates the tax credit for solar, for residential and commercial. Low income and working class Americans are using the tax credits, not to save the planet but because of affordability and stability to home energy gills.
It eliminates all tax credits for electric vehicles – workign class and mid-income residents were using to add affordability to their transportation, so they aren’t at the mercy of unpredictable and expensive gas prices.
It does away with all tax credits for energy efficiency – appliances, HVAC systems, changing windows that made homes warmer in winter, cooler in summer, and helped stretch dollars and save energy.
While removing incentives for clean energy, the bill promotes “Drill, baby, drill,” – going back to oil and natural gas that will increase air pollution – asthma, heart attacks, respiratory illness, premature deaths, water contamination, and increase and accelerate the impacts of climate change – which Long Island cares about. Overall, taking us back in energy policy is bad for health, It makes no sense, unless you are invested in the oil industry..
Suozzi and Gillen noted that House Democrats attempted to amend the budget bill – offering 500 different amendments over the marathon sessions in committees and on the floor – all of which were shot down by Republicans, who even shot down raising taxes on those earning $100 million a year.
A new report by Gender Equity Policy Institute (GEPI) released a new report, Maternal Mortality in the United States After Abortion Bans, which analyzes trends in maternal mortality, reveals that women living in states with abortion bans are twice as likely to die during pregnancy, childbirth, or shortly after giving birth, compared to those in states where abortion is legal and accessible. Currently, 62.7 million women and girls live in states with abortion bans.
Key Findings:
Mothers living in states that banned abortion are nearly 2x as likely to die during pregnancy, childbirth, or soon after giving birth, compared to mothers living in supportive states where abortion was legal and accessible.
Maternal mortality fell 21% in supportive states post Dobbs
Maternal mortality rose 56% in Texas in the first full year of the state’s abortion ban; up 95% among White women
Black mothers living in banned states were 3.3x as likely to die as White mothers in those states.
Women’s risk of maternal death in Texas was 155% higher than in California
Latina mothers in Texas faced nearly triple the risk of maternal mortality as those in California.
A stark example of the disparity between banned and supportive states is Texas, where mothers face significantly higher risks of maternal mortality compared to those in supportive states. In Texas, mothers are 1.7 times as likely to experience maternal mortality, with Latina and White mothers facing double the risk compared to their counterparts in states that provide abortion access. Additionally, Black women in Texas were 2.5 times as likely as White women in the state to suffer maternal death.
“Abortion bans are putting the lives of women—particularly Black and Latina mothers—at serious risk,” said Dr. Nancy L. Cohen, President of Gender Equity Policy Institute. “This data is a wake-up call: maternal mortality is preventable, yet we are failing to protect those most vulnerable. If we don’t change course, I fear more and more women could die.”
This report is the fourth publication in Gender Equity Policy Institute’s series on Reproductive Health in the United States, and presents GEPI’s analysis of 2019-2023 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data on maternal mortality to compare maternal health outcomes in the banned states, the supportive states, and the U.S. overall.
Meanwhile, Women’s March is sounding the alarm that” the Trump administration is floating a plan to reward women with cash and medals for having more children. Nazi Germany awarded the ‘Motherhood Cross’ to women who birthed for the regime. Mussolini paid women to have six or more kids—while banning abortion and birth control. This was never about supporting parents. It’s about controlling our bodies and turning us into tools of the state. “
Seems ironic since these same WhiteChristoFascists “reformed” welfare to force new mothers to immediately return to the workforce in order to get welfare, without the benefit of available, affordable childcare.
But if you think those two things contradict each other – sitting back as women die while forcing women to give birth – this how it all fits: the birthrate is falling, and despite having an actual worker shortage, they are deporting every immigrant they can get their hands on. So they will need more workers, but they want an overflow of cheap, ignorant labor for the new factories and mines and drilling rigs – people who will be too much under The Man’s thumb to complain about working conditions, just like in that Gilded Age that Trump loves so much.
So they will force women to give birth – even making contraception illegal – without having adequate health care, child care or whatever care, without providing vaccinations. Because at this point, people are mere cogs, expendable. They don’t want the sickly, the disabled, the special needs children or their mothers to survive. If they die – along with the elderly who will die waiting to get their Social Security and Medicare benefits and for lack of vaccinations for diseases that were largely eradicated – that’s okay – less burden on the nation’s tits (treasury); and they don’t vote. It’s survival of the fittest, baby.
32,000 cyclists from all over the USA and the world took over the streets of New York City for the TD Five Boro Bike Tour on May 4, 2025. It’s a celebration of community, empowerment and the sheer joy of being on two wheels – especially taking over the FDR Drive, the 59th Street Bridge, the BQE Highway, the Verrazano, a total of 40 miles from downtown Manhattan through all five boroughs, ending at Staten Island.
It is the largest bike ride in the United States, and the largest charity bike ride in the world, Ken Podziba, Bike New York’s President and CEO declared.
This year, the event was joined by a celebrity, Jens Voigt of Germany, an actual legend of pro cycling for two decades, competing in 17 Tours de France and winning two stages, gave encouragement to the 32,000 riders, saying, ”It’s my honor to be with you.”
The ride showcases Bike New York’s advocacy of safe cycling and the city’s commitment to promoting biking.
NYC Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodríguez, a former member of the city Council, cheered that NYC now has the largest network of protected bike lanes in the U.S.- 555 miles of protected bike lanes of its whopping 1,500 miles of cycling infrastructure. The city added 29 protected bike lanes – 85 miles – and saw a record 228 million bike trips this year. 99% of New Yorkers live within one mile of the bicycle network. “Biking is good for health, good for the economy, and good for the planet.”
The 40 miles through all five boroughs give riders a taste and perspective of neighborhoods, culture and quirks, with bands to represent each borough.
Along the route, bikers are helped by the 1,500 cheerful volunteers who keep the route safe, pleasant, man the many rest stops along the way and cheer the riders on.
Bike New York’s mission is to empower New Yorkers to transform their lives and their communities through bicycling. “Our vision is to increase ridership, to empower youth to lead healthy, productive lives, to remove barriers to cycling, and to advocate for and expand services to reach more New Yorkers.”
Bike New York operates the largest free bicycle education program of its kind in the world. The events that Bike New York organize, from small-scale local rides to the world’s biggest charitable bike ride, funds the free bike education programs.
In addition to the TD Five Boro Bike Tour, other popular programs include the Twin Lights Ride (Sept. 7, 2025), the Discover Hudson Valley Ride (October 12, 2025), and local rides (see: https://www.bike.nyc/events/)
Bike New York also offers an innovative Recycle-a-Bicycle program, averaging 1,800 salvaged bicycles a year, diverting 45,000 pounds of waste from NYC’s landfills. The bikes, that begin as donations, are sold fully refurbished, with proceeds from sales and full service repairs directly supporting its education programs.
Bike New York’s Bike Path Program trains previously justice-involved individuals to become certified Bike Mechanics for Motivate, the operator of Citi Bike, the nation’s most extensive bike-share program, with 33,000 bikes and over 1,800 stations across metro NYC. Bike Path is a 3-week training program where mechanics are trained to repair regular bikes and Citi Bike’s electric and traditional bicycle fleets. In 2024 the program trained and saw 45 people be hired as Bike Mechanics at Motivate. The Bike Path Bike Mechanic Training & Employment Program has a 98% job placement rate.
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:
