Mayor's Office: Official count on NYC Women's March exceeds 400k
NEW YORK -- An excess of 400,000 demonstrators marched to President Donald Trump's Manhattan home on Saturday in protest, saying the new president may be from New York, but he doesn't represent the city.
MORE: NYC Women's March causes gridlock across Manhattan
"New York is a community in itself and people care about each other and it's diverse," said Ashia Badi, 44, who brought her two daughters to the march. "He doesn't feel like he has those New York values I see."
The Women's March on New York City, one of hundreds around the country staged a day after the inauguration, ended on Fifth Avenue near Trump Tower, where he conducted nearly all of his post-election business. It's also where first lady Melania Trump and the couple's young son Barron will live.
Thunderous cheers rang out as jovial protesters packed into barricades at least 15 blocks long, moving slowly toward the tower. Some avenues were so clogged that demonstrators couldn't move forward. Men and women donned pink knit hats and held signs that read "Women's rights are human rights," and "A woman's place is in the resistance." Many thanked police officers as they walked by.
The march snarled traffic around the heart of New York, with taxi drivers parked on city thoroughfares sitting on top of their cars.
Trump was born and raised in New York City, but the majority of the city and state voted for Hillary Clinton. Eileen Dirnfeld, 81, of Brooklyn, was also born in the city.
"I don't see him as a New Yorker, I really don't. He's gotten in with the money," she said. "He's not the guy on the street. He got in with the money and that's all he cares about."
Patricia Palermo, one of six women wearing surgical masks that said "Save the ACA" (Affordable Care Act) said his words and actions contradict.
"We (as New Yorkers) know him that's why most New Yorkers are against him."
Zakiyyah Woods, a hospital senior clerk from Brooklyn, said it was important to host a local march to show that New Yorkers don't agree with Trump's divisive rhetoric on Muslims, women and Latinos.
"We're a melting pot. You hear languages from all over the world here," Woods said. "No matter who you are and where you come from, New York is a safe haven. They come here to feel more accepted and safer."
Celebrities Helen Mirren, Cynthia Nixon and Whoopi Goldberg joined the crowd.
"This is on us. This change is on us," Goldberg told the cheering crowd. "We're about to go further than you ever thought you could because what's at stake is everything you believe in. We're going to show America what we can do in New York."
