Protest Against Hudson River Trust ICE Contract Continues

An array of protestors are continuing their fight against the Hudson River Park Trust’s decision to see an Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) parking contract through, with organizers and supporters picketing another board meeting held by the Trust at Pier 57.

The Trust has said that they’ve been legally advised against breaking the contract, which began in 2021 and provides ICE with a local space to store their vehicles, before it expires in June.

Instead, they say that they simply won’t renew it at its expiration. Local activists opposed to ICE want the Trust to break the contract immediately, as a matter of principle, noting that the vehicles could be used in immigration raids.

“Last week, we discussed the contract with our Advisory Council for the second consecutive month and reported that after a careful and thorough review, we do not have a legal path to terminate it prior to its completion–only the federal government has any right to terminate,” a spokesperson for the Trust told Straus News. “We remain committed to providing a welcoming, safe and accessible public space.”

The Trust has received $800,000 from the contract so far.

The protest action was held on the sunny afternoon of Thursday, March 27, and was put together by Chelsea Neighbors United and the NYC-DSA Immigrant Justice Working Group. Attendees gathered along the Hudson River boardwalk next to the pier on 11th Avenue, which sits a few strides across the water away from Little Island.

The assembled crowd of picketers, which appeared to number up to a few dozen people, began by singing famed protest songs such as Woody Guthrie’s “You Fascists Bound to Lose” and Pete Seeger’s “Which Side Are You On.” They also performed a few call-and-response rhymes, such as “Hudson Trust, you can’t hide, we have justice on our side.”

Karen Matthews, one of the organizers with Chelsea Neighbors United, told Chelsea News that she has an “adult daughter who once played sports at Pier 40.” She called the riverfront managed by the Trust a “precious resource,” adding that it was “upsetting” that it could now be used to stage immigration raids.

Matthews made the comments as the group walked in a steady procession from the riverfront to the Board of Directors’ meeting, which was held in a conference room inside the revamped pier, which is now home to a food hall and rooftop park.

The picketers quietly filed into the room and took seats, before eventually launching into singing more Guthrie. One protestor said that the Trust was supporting “Trump’s Gestapo.”

A few board members abruptly got up and filed out of the meeting, leading one protester to give thanks to the members who stayed; there was otherwise no real drama or outright tension to speak of. After ten minutes or so, the organizers gathered everybody and left, heading back towards the waterfront.

Once back outside, DSA (Democratic Socialists of America) member Matt Plummer grabbed a mic and rallied the picketers to future action, saying that the Trust “hopes we’re gonna vanish into thin air.”

He added that he found the Trust’s actions “cowardly,” and said that he thought they should cover legal costs for any immigrant detained by ICE along the stretch of riverfront they help manage.

Another organizer with the DSA, Laura Cheatham, also told Straus News that she found the Trust “extremely cowardly.” She added that “they’re putting all of us at risk, because they want to go the easy route.”

While the Trust’s Board of Directors doesn’t meet again until June, the next meeting of its Advisory Council will be held on April 21, possibly teeing up more protests.