Thousands of people gathered across Long Island Saturday from Port Washington to East Hampton for more than a dozen “No Kings” rallies.
The rallies in Nassau and Suffolk counties are part of a national protest day that organizers hope will bring out big crowds at sites across the country to voice opposition to the Trump administration.
Scores of protesters lined Nesconset Highway between Route 112 and Davis Avenue in Port Jefferson Station, some wearing outfits ranging from Revolutionary War-era attire to alien costumes.
Colette Rodriguez, 72, of Port Jefferson Station, said she was “absolutely stunned” at the turnout.
“We come to all of the rallies and we’ve never seen this,” she said.
Her husband, James, said people are “now seeing the reality” of the Trump administration.
The couple cited issues ranging from the administration’s cuts to the federal workforce to the worries that “every time [Trump] has an enemy, he sees them as a public enemy.”
Stuart Markus, 61, of Malverne, played guitar and sang songs into a microphone.
“This is people all over the county making a stand, saying, ‘no, we have democratic traditions here,” he said. “We are supposed to be a republic with a Congress that stands up to the president when he tries to exert too much power.”
Standing near the steps of the Nassau County Courthouse in Mineola, Larry Hass said there is a cumulative effect of the nationwide protests that have drawn tens of thousands of people on Long Island during Trump’s second term.
“Every change always started in the streets,” said Hass, 68, of Syosset.
Hass, who said he receives Social Security benefits and Medicare, expressed concern the government would cut those services.
“We gotta do something to stop this,” he said.
Halle Brenner-Perles, 55, of East Northport, a co-founder of Show Up Long Island, organized the Mineola rally with Engage Long Island and Long Island Network for Change.
Brenner-Perles, a registered Democrat, said motivating factors for organizing the event include fear of National Guard deployments, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids, the loss of health care coverage, Trump administration cuts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and what she described as a trend toward authoritarian rule.
Rachel Klein, the founder of EngageLI, said Saturday’s gatherings are “very much a ‘save our democracy’ event.”
Protesters on Saturday were urged to wear yellow as a “shared signal, bright, bold and impossible to ignore,” according to a “No Kings” webpage. In Mineola, many in the crowd wore yellow bandanas.
Standing near a police barricade separating the lawn of the courthouse from Old Country Road in Garden City, Ellie Cobain said she became motivated to attend a “No Kings” rally for the first time because of the “lies” of the Trump administration.
“There’s a whole lot of crazy going on,” said Cobain, 50, of Long Beach. “I cannot believe the people who just support Trump. It’s mind boggling on every level.”
Republican leaders dismissed concerns raised by protesters and said their anger should be aimed at Democrats for the ongoing federal government shutdown.
Suffolk County Republican Committee Chairman Jesse Garcia, in an interview Saturday, called the rallies “nothing more than a public relations campaign by Democrats who do not have solutions.” He referred to the demonstrators as “paid protesters.”
“All they do is scream, they yell, they dance, they make a mockery of themselves without offering solutions,” he said.
David Laska, director of communications for the New York State Republican Party, said in an emailed statement: “Americans are too smart to be lectured about political norms by a party that shut down the government over health care for illegals, wishes death upon the children of their political opponents and nominated a defund-the-police Hamas supporter for Mayor of New York City.”
Suffolk County police estimated 1,000 people lined the shore near Great Patchogue Lake for the event. Credit: Neil Miller
Suffolk County police estimated 1,000 people lined the shore near Great Patchogue Lake for the event there, which started at noon. They hoisted signs, waved American flags and blew bubbles as cars passed on Holbrook Road.
A quartet of musicians led a marching band rendition of “This Land is Your Land,” singing verses over protest chants.
A group of unionized health care workers joined the rally to push back against deep cuts to health care and Medicare they said put their jobs and patients at risk.
“It’s dangerous,” said Matthew Smith, 35, of Mastic.
Smith, a delegate for 1199 SEIU United Health Care workers employed at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, said those cuts have a mental health impact. “People don’t know where their next meal is coming from, if they’re going to have someone to help them. It’s just really terrible what we’re seeing.”
Wearing cardboard crowns embellished with “no kings,” Krista Revak, 58, stood shoulder-to-shoulder with her 85-year-old father, Michael Revak.
Michael Revak fled Romania as a child during World War II and said Trump’s administration poses a threat to democracy.
“I had seen it coming,” he said. “I’m concerned about my grandchildren and children. The next generation gets stuck with this system. And it’s not fun.”
His daughter agreed, adding that she’s most concerned with how immigrants are being treated.
“They’re paying into Social Security just like the rest of us are,” Krista said. “We were all immigrants somewhere along the line.”
Protecting free speech was a key theme at Saturday’s demonstrations.
Chloe Virgona of Islip wore a yellow bandana in her braided hair and held the text of the first amendment on a large board at the Patchogue rally.
“[Trump] is trying to prosecute his political opponents, going after Jimmy Kimmel, saying anyone who’s anti-fascist can be considered a terrorist so that way they lose their rights and they can be fast-tracked to jail, which is against our fundamental rights,” said Virgona, 37.
The scheduled protests drew condemnation from some top U.S. politicians, among them House Speaker Mike Johnson, who dubbed the event the “Hate America Rally.”
In a statement Friday, Suffolk police said residents can expect “an increased police presence at each rally” within its patrol areas. Nassau police and other local agencies could not confirm plans to be more visible at rallies.
In a social media post Saturday morning, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) urged people to exercise their right to free speech.
“Do not let Donald Trump and Republicans intimidate you into silence,” he said. “That’s what they want to do. They’re afraid of the truth.”
Garcia said protesters should focus instead on Schumer and “urge him to open up the government.”
The first nationwide “No Kings” protests were held in June on the day of a military parade celebrating the 250th birthday of the U.S. Army in Washington, D.C., as well as Trump’s 79th birthday. Thousands of Long Islanders rallied in the rain that day to protest a perceived abuse of power by the president.
Saturday’s rallies are being held on the 18th day of the federal government shutdown. No resolution appeared on the horizon as both parties continued a stalemate driven largely by health insurance subsidies put in place in 2021 that are set to expire Dec. 31. Democrats have demanded the subsidies are made permanent, while Republicans insist they were only meant to be temporary.
Newsday recently reported White House economic advisers have warned the projections of economic loss could be $1.2 billion statewide each week the U.S. government remains shut.
‘No Kings’ rally locations on Long Island
According to the national website for the “No Kings” protests, local rallies will be held at the following locations:
Mineola: 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at Nassau County CourthousePort Washington: noon-1 p.m. at an undisclosed locationPort Jefferson Station: 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at the train car parkLindenhurst: 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at 200 Sunrise Hwy,South Huntington: noon-2 p.m. at Jericho Turnpike and Walt Whitman RoadMastic-Shirley: noon-1:30 p.m. at an undisclosed locationMedford: 10 a.m.-noon at the Park and Ride near Exit 63Miller Place: noon-1:30 p.m. at 323 NY-25APatchogue: noon-1 p.m. at an undisclosed locationRiverhead: 9 a.m.-11 a.m. at the Riverhead County Center and another from 12:30 p.m.- 2:30 p.m. at an undisclosed locationWading River: noon-3 p.m. at North Shore United Methodist ChurchEast Hampton: 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at town hallHampton Bays: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. in the Macy’s Hampton Bays parking lot