A parade of paper-mache butterflies, an inflatable dinosaur, a rubber zombie mask and paper crowns were just a few of the sights on 7th Avenue at the March 28 “No Kings” protest in New York City.
Thousands of people marched from 57th Street and 7th Avenue through Times Square. Several other demonstrations occurred simultaneously across all five boroughs, a small part of the over 3,000 protests nationwide. This was the third No Kings demonstration, following the inaugural June 14, 2025 protest (timed to coincide with President Donald Trump’s birthday), and the second on Oct. 18, 2025.
Organizers expected a turnout in the millions across the nation. In New York City, volunteer marshals said there were fewer people than they had anticipated, though the NYPD reported over 100,000 protestors across the city and zero protest-related arrests.
The protests aim to peacefully voice widespread dissent against the Trump administration. Some of the key issues raised on March 28 include the raids and aggressive conduct by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in cities like Minneapolis, the Iran war and affordability for Americans, particularly with respect to inflation and rising gas prices. In New York City, several subgroups advocating for trans rights, union rights and an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict also had significant presences.
While attendees at the New York City protest skewed toward an older demographic, people of all ages and backgrounds were in attendance. Here are a few of them.
Jay Walker
Jay Walker, an organizer with Hands Off NYC and Rise and Resist, marched at the front of the protest, leading chants like “Show me what democracy looks like. This is what democracy looks like” and “Get up, get down, New York is a union town.”
Walker described the ethos of protests like No Kings as showing people all over the world that “a huge wide swath of the American public do not stand for fascism, do not stand for authoritarianism, are against the billionaire Epstein class and are going to fight them with every ounce of energy that we have.” Walker also reflected on the positive atmosphere at the protest.
“(The energy) is powerful. It is alive. It is electric. It is just full of determination, drive (and) joy. Joy in being together in community and joy in knowing that New Yorkers are together in this fight,” Walker said.
Several other chants rose up throughout the procession demanding “ICE out” and “Hands off Iran.” An impromptu drum circle was held at the intersection of 34th Street and 7th Avenue after the protest’s completion, with people singing similar messages of “No war, no ICE, no fascist USA.”
Vicious Price
Alongside a couple other musical celebrations, the protest was rife with color in the form of signs, flags and banners. Protestors stretched up to Columbus Circle and were split between 7th Avenue and Broadway as they marched down. Many Hands Workshop, a New York City-based organization that makes art for protests and events, held banners at the front of the Broadway procession, bearing messages like “We protect our neighbors” and “People over billionaires.”
Vicious Price, an activist and drag queen, attended the protest with Many Hands. Price was born in New York City and raised in Florida, and has been protesting different causes since high school.
While the March 28 demonstration was her first No Kings protest, Price regularly holds anti-ICE drag shows and sells art prints, donating the profits to immigrant advocacy groups. She said she attended simply because she felt like she “need(ed) to be out here and doing something,” and spoke to the transformative power of art.
“The purpose of Many Hands and the art that I do is to show people that your community sees you,” Price said. “You’re able to see something physical that you wouldn’t be able to get without talking to people and being like, ‘Do you agree with my politics?’ … This helps you see it in a visual way that brings the community together.”
Erin Ott
Erin Ott, a high school student from New Jersey, shared a similar view on the “really powerful” sense of hope and community she felt No Kings generated. This was the first major protest she had ever attended.
“I go to a really Republican school, so I feel alone a lot and I latch onto a lot of people who agree with my political views. So seeing all these people here, it kind of gives me a sense of humanity and hope a little bit, because I feel kind of sheltered and lost,” Ott said.
Ott was far from the only high schooler present. A few streets down from where she stood, a different group of high schoolers tabled at the side of the march, passing out flyers for a May 1 student strike. The strike is part of a larger “May Day Strong” group of students and workers organizing a national day of action with “no work, no school and no spending.”
Stacy Tran
Stacy Tran, Fordham College at Rose Hill ’28, was another first-time attendee at No Kings. She walked in the parade alongside the New York City Democratic Socialists of America, a local chapter of the national socialist organization.
Tran shared that, having been raised in the Bronx, she grew up around Latine communities, which has shaped her desire to support and uplift working class and immigrant communities.
“It was very important, as someone who has the privilege to get higher education, to support the people that I grew up around and let them know that I’m there to represent them (and) the working class around the entire country,” Tran said.
She added that she is hoping to see greater affordability for the working class, particularly with respect to healthcare, as well as an end to U.S. involvement in foreign wars like the Iran war.
Tran also said that it was “very inspiring” to see college students like herself, and even high schoolers and children, attend the protest, even though “there were definitely a lot more of the older generation.”
Kristin Poor
Kristin Poor attended No Kings with her wife and young daughter, Hazel. Poor was one of many families with children in attendance and discussed the power of collective action.
“I really wanted to be out in a big, critical mobilization of people … so that we can show with our numbers what we’re all thinking and feeling and doing on our own,” Poor said. “It feels good.”
Hazel added that she and her mothers are at the protest “because we don’t really like Donald Trump.”
Joy Moss
Some attendees at the protest have been involved with activism almost all their lives. Joy Moss is 70 years old and a longtime advocate for “gay rights, people with change and people with color.”
Moss shared her particular frustration at the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda and the funding allocated to the Department of Homeland Security and the Iran War.
“It’s a shame what Trump is doing. … But God get ready to clean up everything because he’s not going to be president. We’re going to get his swollen ankle ass out of the White House, you hear me? And I love what I’m doing. I’m 70 years old and I love what I’m doing,” Moss said.
From elaborate signs to inflatable costumes, protestors got creative in communicating their message against the Trump administration and for what they said is the protection of democracy.
Costumes
Signs
