[videojs mp4=”http://baderblog.s3.amazonaws.com/stories/NewYorkAnti-TrumpProtests-APB/NewYorkAnti-TrumpProtests-APB-iPhone.mp4″ poster=”http://baderblog.s3.amazonaws.com/stories/NewYorkAnti-TrumpProtests-APB/NewYorkAnti-TrumpProtests-APB-poster.jpg” width=”500″ height=”281″ preload=”true”]
November 10, 2016, New York NY: Amid placards, banners, and hand-held signs proclaiming “Love Trumps Hate,” “Build Bridges Not Walls,” and “Not My President” among more volatile messages, an estimated 40,000 demonstrators marched up Fifth Avenue Wednesday night to vehemently voice their displeasure of President Elect Donald Trump’s victory the previous evening.
Celebrities including Madonna, Mark Ruffalo, T.I., Meek Mill and Taran Killam also participated in the anti-Trump activities Wednesday night in New York. Lady Gaga posed on a New York City garbage truck holding a “Love Trumps Hate” poster in the early morning hours.
The protesters came in two waves from Columbus Circle and Union Square. They finally assembled at Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue and 56th Street directly in-front of Trump’s 58-story glass tower residence shouting “not our president…” and “New York hates Trump!”
Dump trucks loaded with sand lined Fifth Avenue outside Trump Towers – forming a wall of protection . The New York City Police Department said that sixty-five protesters were arrested for disorderly conduct and issued bench tickets
The demonstrations forced street closures and snarled traffic throughout Manhattan for hours. Protesters burned effigies of Trump and hoisted derogatory signage denouncing the President Elect’s comments about immigration and other hot button issues.
Most of the demonstrators appeared to be young people voting in their first presidential election. Despite the fact that Trump is a native New Yorker, he only received 19% of the vote in New York City – much of which came from the mostly suburban borough of Staten Island.
Similar massive demonstrations, fueled by social media platforms, also took place in major American cities including Chicago, Portland, Seattle, Oakland, Philadelphia, Austin, and Atlanta, among others. The New York City protests appeared to be the largest in the nation and will continue into the weekend.