Hundreds marched in frigid weather from the Lower East Side through Chinatown to City Hall to protest Mayor Bill de Blasio and developers' racist gentrification and displacement of low-income communities.
Calling for "No Towers, No Compromise," the march began at the 80-story Extell luxury tower, which has a "poor door" to separate low- and middle-income families from the rich. De Blasio has agreed to the construction of three more of these towers, which will loom over the Rutgers public housing projects and block residents from seeing the nearby East River.
"De Blasio says he is opposed to Trump's wall at the border," said one speaker, "but he is building a wall right here." Signs declared the mayor and 45 "two sides of the same coin." Marchers called for the mayor to adopt the Chinatown community development plan, drawn up by local people-based organizations.
The NYPD was grotesquely aggressive toward this march that honored Dr. King. Although the city had agreed to grant a parade permit, the police forcibly pushed protesters onto the sidewalks with their vehicles, endangering people. As the march approached City Hall, cops targeted one woman organizer from the crowd and tried to seize her. Fortunately, the marchers surrounded the cop and forced him to release her.
