May Day Protests: NYC Rallies Push For Worker, Immigrant Rights

NEW YORK, NY — Hundreds of activists will hold May Day rallies around New York City on Tuesday to push for worker and immigrant rights. Protests occur around the world each May 1 to mark International Workers' Day, which was conceived as a day of action for the organized labor movement.

This year, several local activist groups are using the occasion to oppose President Donald Trump's strict immigration policies and aggressive deportation practices.

The Bushwick-based nonprofit Make the Road New York led a march on Wall Street early Tuesday morning to call attention to major banks' investments in private prison companies.

The event aimed to "protest major financial institutions' complicity in the mass incarceration and family separation being advanced by the Trump Administration," organizers wrote on Facebook. The actress Cynthia Nixon, who is running a Democratic primary campaign for governor, joined the march.

Several other rallies are scheduled throughout the day at typical centers for protests, including Union Square Park, Washington Square Park and Foley Square.

A broad coalition of activist groups and labor unions, including the New York Teamsters and the New York Immigration Coalition, will rally for immigrant and worker rights at 5 p.m. at Lower Manhattan's Foley Square.

The protest will feature speakers such as Women's March co-founder Linda Sarsour and former City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, as well as several musical performances.

Eight groups, including Make the Road New York and the large labor union 32BJ SEIU, will hold another rally at Washington Square Park at 5:30 p.m. "to demand Congress protect workers rights and immigrant rights."

Activists will rally at Union Square at noon, followed by a march starting at 5 p.m. alongside Immigrant Worker Justice, a group that began as an offshoot of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Later in the evening, Starr Bar in Bushwick will host an after-party for the May Day protest festivities at 8 p.m. Proceeds from the $10 cover charge will go to Make the Road New York.

Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the name of the group that organized Tuesday's march on Wall Street. It was Make the Road New York, not Make the Road Action.

(Lead image: Police and protesters face off at a Union Square May Day rally on May 1, 2017. Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)