Riverdale Joins No Kings Protest Against Trump Policies

Riverdale residents joined thousands of other New Yorkers in the Oct. 18 ‘No Kings’ protest, a nationwide series of demonstrations against the policies of President Donald Trump’s administration. 

Some headed to Times Square — with 100,000 other people, according to police — and others stayed local, joining about 600 of their neighbors at Seton Park. 

The New York Police Department said protests in the city were peaceful, and no arrests were made as of Oct. 18, 3 p.m. Across the country, the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU, and other protest organizers estimated seven million people took to the streets for No Kings. 

Put together by over 200 progressive organizations, this is the second large-scale No Kings protest. In June, the demonstrations drew five million people across the United States, according to the ACLU, and nearly 20 from Riverdale. 

This time, dozens of residents packed shoulder-to-shoulder in Midtown Manhattan, holding signs that read “Protest is patriotic” and “There is nothing more American than standing against Kings,” to name a few. They smiled alongside their neighbors, cheering together in between chants of “Show me what democracy looks like.” 

Eighty-two-year-old Lynda Paull has taken part in marches for six decades, stretching back to the Vietnam War. But, the current administration incites a new kind of fear, she said. 

“There’s never been a time like this, ever in my lifetime … where I felt truly deep in my chest, in my heart, we are losing democracy,” Paull said. 

Another longtime activist,  Dan Guenzburger, is a member of grassroots group Northwest Bronx Indivisible. He also protested at No Kings in June. 

“Vietnam War protests made a difference,” Guenzburger said. “They started small, and they increased until they started to impact public opinion. That’s why we’re here. We have got to mobilize the country.” 

Back in the Bronx, 600 residents — from children to seniors — flooded Seton Park. Kids blew bubbles, darting in between clusters of people, while adults waved signs, echoed chants and joined together in song. 

Some gravitated toward the center of the group, where Marcelo Lopez, president of the Unity Democratic Club, led calls. He held a microphone in one hand, and used the other to keep a large speaker steady atop his head. 

In between speeches from community leaders, Indivisible member Helen Krim, led renditions of songs such as “We Shall Overcome” as residents sang along. A small band accompanied her on guitar, drums and tambourine. 

“The most important thing for the community is to know other people are there with you,” said drummer Jerry Kisslinger. “I really wanted it to be not just a peace rally, but an energy rally, a resistance rally — something that would give people confidence to stand up for what they believe in.”  

Danielle Herbert-Guggenheim, an educator, said she was heartened to see so many from the borough involved in activism. 

“I grew up in the Bronx at a time where we are not good if our neighbor isn’t,” she said. “What’s happening with the immigrant community can easily happen to the Black community, to the LGBTQIA+ community.” 

Elected officials U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres, Assemblymember Jeffrey Dinowitz, and Council Member Eric Dinowitz, also made an appearance at the rally.

“All of us are what stand between Donald Trump and being a dictator,” said Council Member Dinowitz. “We are in this together. We are in this because we love our country.”

Allison Gervais and Nate Ethier, Riverdale residents of three years, joined the protest with their dog Quinn. Gervais cited a rollback on women’s reproductive rights, while Ethier called for stronger separation of church and state.

“I like to see people come out of situations like this with a renewed sense of the value and urgency of democracy,” Ethier said. “Democracies collapse all over the world throughout the course of history. People think it can’t happen here. It can happen here, and people need to protect it.”