NYC Anti-Trump Protesters Storm Trump Tower for the Second Night in a Row

UPDATE, Nov. 11, 6 p.m.: The protest crowd is back in the thousands again for their third night of anti-Trump demonstrations in NYC. Live updates here.

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — Sparse anti-Donald Trump demonstrations across Midtown Manhattan all day Thursday grew into a hundreds-strong protest outside Trump Tower (located along Fifth Avenue between 56th and 57th streets) by nightfall. It was nowhere near the size of the previous night's rally, but appeared very much alive — and still picking up steam — by around 8 p.m.

"We reject the president-elect!" protesters chanted as they marched uptown and formed a crowd behind the police barricade erected across Fifth Avenue from Trump Tower. "Dump that Trump!" others chanted.

Just as they did the night before, protesters marched 45 blocks north to Trump Tower from Union Square. There also appeared to be another big group of anti-Trumpsters who stayed back to maintain a presence in Union Square.

Trump and his wife will be living in their lavish penthouse atop the tower — newly dubbed "White House North" — until late January, when they are expected to move to the actual White House.

However, Trump didn't appear to be home Thursday night, as he'd been meeting with important folks like President Obama and Paul Ryan all day in D.C.

Sixty-five protesters, including a group of journalists, were arrested by the NYPD during Wednesday night's protest, according to police. A couple witnesses said cops appeared to be selecting people in the crowd almost at random and arresting them for refusal to disperse.

"It seemed like most of the 13 people I was arrested with were in the wrong place at the wrong time at Herald Square," E.J. Fox, one of the arrested journalists, told Patch.

Mayor Bill de Blasio later said he thought police "did a brilliant job" keeping the massive demonstration under control Wednesday night.

A series of extreme security measures have been implemented at Trump Tower since Election Day: The Secret Service is now in charge of all security operations surrounding the tower (NYPD spokespeople can't even comment on them anymore); garbage trucks filled with sand are parked along 5th Avenue to protect the building from possible car bombs; FAA officials have implemented a no-fly zone in the air space above the tower; and police have erected semi-permanent barriers on street level (slowly pushing them outward to create more of a buffer). Two lanes of 5th Avenue may even be closed completely in the months until Trump takes office, according to CBS reporter Alex Silverman.

Securing Trump's home until then will be "a challenge," de Blasio said at a Thursday press conference, but not an "overwhelming one."

"The holidays are coming up anyway," he said. "Midtown is going to be messed up anyway."

Lead photo courtesy of @wtfdoyouwanttom/Twitter