Crowds of May Day protesters demanding higher taxes on billionaires to fund public goods and services took to the streets of New York City on Friday.
Thousands rallied on International Workers’ Day across the five boroughs, including on Wall Street, where hundreds of people blocked entrances to the New York Stock Exchange, and some arrests were made.
Hundreds, if not thousands, packed Manhattan’s Washington Square Park to celebrate workers and the history of labor organizing.
Organizers of the rally said protecting workers’ rights is more important now than ever before, as the cost of living rises in the city and across the country.
“I would not be standing in front of you as the mayor of our city were it not for the support of working people,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani told the crowd in Greenwich Village. “And it is such a pleasure to be back here with all of you in Washington Square Park, the cradle of worker power.”
Organizers said the rally was being led by several union and immigrant-advocacy organizations to recognize the role workers play across the city and to spotlight the risks of unsafe working conditions and federal immigration enforcement.
The rally in Washington Square Park remained peaceful amid a large NYPD presence.
Police did not say how many people were taken into custody at the Wall Street rally.