Over 100,000 New Yorkers Denounce Trump at Local ‘No Kings’ Protests
The NYPD estimated 100,000 residents turned out for the protests against the Trump administration. They spanned all five boroughs and the NY-based protests were reportedly the largest turnout of any of the 2,220 nationwide No Kings protests.
| 20 Oct 2025 | 03:02
UWS City Council Member Gale Brewer attends another No Kings protest in Manhattan on Oct. 18 joining an estimated 100,000 in NYC and seven million nationally protesting policies of President Donald Trump. (
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A crowd estimated at over 100,000 marched in Manhattan on Oct. 18 as part of the nationwide No Kings Day. (
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The crowds of protesters at the No Kings Day in NYC were estimated to be twice as big as the crowds at a similar themed rally four months ago. (
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Despite the huge No Kings Day mass protest, the NYPD said there were no arrests of protesters. ICE reportedly seized one person at the rally. (
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A festive atmosphere prevailed at the No Kings protest against the Trump administration. The march drew over 100,000, starting at Father Duffy Square in Times Square, went down Seventh Avenue to Union Square Park. NYC reportedly drew the largest number of protesters on the national protest day, Oct. 18. (
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Holding signs like “Empires don’t age well” and “Anne Frank wrote about this in her diary,” roughly 100,000 New Yorkers took to the streets for local “No Kings” protests Oct. 18, speaking out against what they labeled the corrupt, inhumane authoritarian presidential administration of Donald Trump.
Trump allies, in turn, labeled the protests “hate America rallies” and spread unfounded claims that the crowds were full of terrorists and members of the far-left Antifa movement. The NYPD reported no arrests on the day.
The largest crowd in New York gathered at 11 a.m. in Times Square and made its way down Seventh Avenue and then eastward to Union Square Park, at E. 14th Street, a traditional protest spot for New Yorkers.
Elderly people bore American flags, hipsters carried satchels and film cameras, and tourists looked on in amazement. Chants of “This is what democracy looks like!” rippled down the street.
Leese Walker marched along with two members of her performance ensemble, Strike Anywhere. The trio wore white masks and boxy white costumes.
“We’re milk cartons,” Walker explained. “We’ve come back from the ’90s, because there’s just too many people missing.”
The sides of the costumes bore the names of different New York residents who had been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
ICE detentions were at the forefront of many New Yorkers’ minds.
“There are people being abducted in the streets,” a young woman who identified herself as Brie D. said. “Human rights are going down the toilet.”
Brie wore a rainbow-colored New York Mets shirt and hat.
“I was going to wear a Sonic the Hedgehog costume, but my partner talked me out of it,” she said. “I just wore all of the most obviously queer stuff I had in my closet.”
Saturday’s crowd appeared to be more youthful than previous No Kings protests.
“It’s amazing to see so many people of my generation,” 24-year-old Mercury Fogerson said.
Fogerson was wearing an inflatable Garfield costume and brandishing a sign reading “Less Hate, More Lasagna.”
“Joy is a form of resistance,” Fogerson said. “They want us to be miserable, they want us to be tired. I am not tired, I am not miserable.”
Fashion Institute of Technology students Julia Mittler and Isabella Goblet arrived at the protest together. Mittler had attended a No Kings protest in June in upstate New York; Saturday’s march, she said, was far livelier.
“The first one had a lot of elderly people,” she said.
High school freshman Sadie Geogerian, demonstrating with the Fourth Universalist Society, stood atop a mailbox, leading the passing crowd in a variety of chants.
“You get up high so they can see you,” he said, hopping off the mailbox. “I want to be able to chant, and when they’re chanting with you, it’s a good feeling.”
Geogerian said he’d seen some Trump supporters make obscene gestures at him from the sidewalk, but hadn’t paid them any mind.
“It’s been good vibes,” he said.
Eighty-four-year old Judith Rabinor marched with fellow Upper West Side residents Barbara Simon and Nancy Good.
“These are all people who want to stand up for the right thing,” she said. “It makes me feel young.”
Rabinor said she had attended demonstrations dating back to Vietnam. Despite enjoying the energy of the day, she expressed fear for the city’s future.
“What are we gonna do if Trump brings the troops in here?” she said. “I love [mayoral favorite Zohran] Mamdani, but I don’t know if he’s strong enough to fight him.”
While none of the city’s three top mayoral candidates appeared to attend a No Kings protest on Saturday, other noteworthy city officials did march, such as City Comptroller Brad Lander and Upper West Side Council Member Gale Brewer.
At 3:27, NYPD announced that the majority of protesters had dispersed and that zero protest-related arrests had been made. They estimated the crowds at over 100,000.
Jess Burke, a volunteer with No Kings, spent her day managing a barricade and preventing cars from entering the protest area.
Burke said it was the first No Kings protest she had attended.
“I’m a bit to the left of the organizers. . . . I’m more DSA,” she said, referring to the Democratic Socialists of America. “But I think everyone needs to come together.”
President Donald Trump appeared to take the protests personally.
On Saturday evening, Trump uploaded an AI-generated video to social media. The video portrayed the president as a crown-wearing fighter pilot dropping excrement on demonstrators.
At 3:27, NYPD announced that the majority of protesters had dispersed and that zero protest-related arrests had been made.