Women on the march
sages such as “Women won’t back down” and “Less fear more love,” the group made their way down to 42nd St. and then up Fifth Ave.
Barricades lined the streets, and traffic was snarled by the sea of humanity.
Mary Ann Duncan, 49, a preschool teacher and the mother of two girls, came from Albany to join the masses.
“It’s important to show up and take a stand. There’s too much on the line. This is our future,” Duncan said. “He’s in the most powerful position in the world. Our freedoms are at stake.”
Other marchers said they want to ensure that the Trump administration will not take steps to strip women’s health and reproductive rights.
“A lot is at stake,” said Jennifer Tavis, 33, a costume designer from Ridgewood, Queens. “There are so many issues to support, but I think we are for fighting (for) reproductive rights, health care and equality. I am fighting for equality to express yourself however you want, and to be treated with respect.”
Sen. Chuck Schumer, who spoke at Trump’s inauguration in Washington a day earlier, promised to fight on behalf of all Americans.
“Donald Trump isn’t going to know what hit him,” he said. “I am on your side. The Democrats in the Senate are on your side, and we are not going to stop fighting until we take this country back.”
People continued to pour into the march as the afternoon turned to evening. On Second Ave., people remained backed up from 42nd St. up to 51st St.
The crowd was so thick at times that it was nearly at a standstill.
Anne Cunningham, 82, who works with the office of the Manhattan borough president, marched alone with her walker, pumping one fist in the air, saying, “Hey hey, ho ho, Mr. Trump has got to go!”
Cunningham has been an activist since she was teen and a part of many major protest movements.
“I am so impressed with all the young wonderful people out here in the street today. It’s like a miracle happening overnight. I think it’s wonderful,” she said. “We need to keep our rights and get more rights for women and people in society.”
Many marchers were disappointed that the NYPD halted their progress at 55th St. and Fifth Ave., two blocks short of Trump’s gilded tower.
A group of demonstrators banged on pots and pans and shouted, “Let us through.”
“It’s infuriating,” said Devin Montalto, 33, a server and preschool teacher from Brooklyn. “We marched all this way, and we’re being told to just turn around and leave. It’s controlled democracy. We’re being controlled.”
Still, Montalto acknowledged what the protesters did accomplish.
“We came out in huge masses that no one expected,” he said. “It was people all over the world. It was more people than those that went to support the inauguration. I think everyone spoke with one voice today. I think we moved people. Something big started today.”