March For Our Lives Takes NYC: Route, Speakers, Traffic Closures

NEW YORK, NY — Thousands of New York City students will continue their fight against gun violence March 24 by taking to the streets in the March for Our Lives, a protest calling for stricter gun control laws. Organizers expect at least 30,000 people to join the Midtown Manhattan march, which will take place about six weeks after Nikolas Cruz shot and killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

"Students should no longer risk their lives waiting for someone else to take action to stop the epidemic of school shootings that has become all too familiar," Christopher Lane of Harlem, a sixth-grader who plans to join the march, said Thursday at a news conference outside City Hall.

The march is among dozens planned for the same day to accompany a main rally in Washington, D.C. organized by activists and teen students, including those who were at the Parkland school when Cruz killed some of their classmates with an assault weapon.

Students at Columbia Law School are planning the New York City protest with support from more than a dozen advocacy groups, including Moms Demand Action, Everytown for Gun Safety and Guns Down Life Up.

Marchers want to show lawmakers they're tired of waiting for laws that make it harder for dangerous people to get dangerous guns, Lane said. He called for a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, as well as laws closing loopholes in gun background checks.

"This is not the time for apathy. This is a time for action," said Julia Ghahramani, a Columbia Law student who's helping organize the march.

The Route

Marchers will start gathering at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 24 at West 72nd Street and Central Park West.

An 11 a.m. rally near Columbus Circle will precede the march, Ghahramani said. Speakers will include a Parkland student, a founder of the Wear Orange anti-gun violence campaign and other survivors of gun violence, said Alex Clavering, another one of the organizers.

The march will proceed east on Central Park South, then south on Sixth Avenue to 43rd Street, where the crowd will disperse.

What To Bring (And Not To Bring)

Marchers who bring bags should make sure they're small. Strollers will be welcomed since the march is a "family event," said Alex Clavering, one of the organizers.

Protesters won't be allowed to carry signs made of metal or wood.

Traffic Closures

The NYPD will close several streets around the march route. Police have not released the list of road closures, but Patch will publish them when they become available.

Registration

Anyone interested in attending can RSVP to the official Facebook event page or through the March for Our Lives website to stay up to date as the march approaches.

(Lead image: Christopher Lane speaks at a Thursday press conference ahead of the March 24 March for Our Lives rally. Photo by Noah Manskar/Patch)