2 Women's Marches Organized In NYC This Year As Leaders Feud

NEW YORK, NY — This year two separate women's marches will be held on the same day in New York City following a rift between organizers who worked together in previous years over allegations of anti-Semitism within the movement's leadership.

On Saturday, January 19 both the Women's March Alliance and the National Women’s March will be hosting actions in Manhattan following failed attempts by both groups to reconcile their differences.

The Women's March Alliance will hold its march on the same route used in 2018, beginning on the Upper West Side and continuing toward Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan. The National Women's March does not have marching permits and will instead hold a "Women's Unity Rally" in Foley Square with the New York Immigration Coalition.

Prominent leaders of the National Women’s March were accused of either having or courting anti-Semitic beliefs leading up to this year's marches. Tamika Mallory, an activist who helped organize the original 2017 women's march movement, has recently come under fire for posting an Instagram photo of her and the Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who once likened Jews to "termites." Farrakhan has also made several homophobic statements.

Mallory explained her support for Farrakhan — she described him as the "GOAT" meaning "greatest of all time" — during an appearance on "The View" by saying: "I didn't call him the greatest of all time because of his rhetoric, I called him the greatest of all time because of what he's done in black communities."

National Women's March leaders have denounced bigotry in all forms and said the movement is open to women from all backgrounds.

Several Jewish organizations and faith leaders have severed ties with the National Women's March as a result of the allegations, the New York Times reported. The organization has also seen support from the Jewish community in light of the recent allegations, with a group of nine rabbis writing a letter vouching for the group's leadership, the Times reported.

The Women's March Alliance — which is holding its march on the Upper West Side — has resisted calls to merge their march with the National Women's March. Leaders of both organizations have made public statements citing difficulties between the group's as roadblocks for cooperation.

The alliance's director Katherine Siemionko took a swipe at the National Women's March, telling the Times in a recent interview: "Nobody who holds a counter women’s march supports women’s rights. There’s no justification for that behavior. None."

Not sure which march to go to on Saturday? Here's info on both of them:

Women's March Alliance

• Start time: There will be a brief kick-off to the march starting at 11 a.m. The kick-off is expected to take between 15 and 30 minutes before the march gets going. This is a change from last year's march, which was preceded by a longer rally.
• Route: The march begins on Central Park West and West 72nd Street and continues south to Columbus Circle. From the circle, marches will head east to Sixth Avenue and continue south toward West 44th Street.
• Getting there: Streets will be closed off and packed with people surrounding the march route, so public transportation is the best option. The nearest subway stop to the march entrance is West 72nd Street and Broadway on the 1, 2 and 3 lines.

National Women's March: 2019 Women's Unity Rally

• Start time: The Women's Unity Rally will begin around 10 a.m. and is expected to continue until about 2 p.m. on Saturday.
• Route: The rally will be contained within Foley Square in Lower Manhattan. The National Women's March did not acquire marching permits, and attempts to unite with the Women's March Alliance proved unsuccessful.
• Events: The Women's March Alliance described the rally as an event to "highlight the leadership of Black women, immigrant women and women of color as part of the national #WomensWave, and in response to the Trump Administration’s continued assault on immigrant communities and communities of color."
• Getting there: Foley square is located blocks from the City Hall subway stations. The 4, 5, 6, J, Z, R and W trains all stop near City Hall.

Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images