Emily Parker :
More than 1,000 people gathered in Forest Hills, Queens, on Saturday for the “No Kings in Queens” protest, a large and peaceful demonstration against the Trump Administration that brought together residents, elected officials, artists, and faith leaders in one of the borough’s most visible recent shows of political dissent.
The protest began at MacDonald Park, where attendees carried signs reading “No ICE,” “Resist,” and other messages supporting transgender rights, condemning war in Gaza and Iran, and calling for Donald Trump’s removal from office. Organized by the grassroots coalition Queens Says No Kings, the rally was part of a larger national mobilization that organizers said included more than 3,300 events and drew millions of participants across the country.
Before the march began, speakers including Assembly candidate Brian Romero, congressional candidate Chuck Park, Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas, and Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. addressed the crowd. Romero, identifying himself as the son of Colombian immigrants, spoke of growing fear in immigrant communities. “Our neighbors are increasingly afraid of ICE coming to our blocks,” he said, adding that the protest offered hope in the face of fear.
Park, the son of Korean immigrants, criticized Congress for failing to confront deportations and war. “We demand that you stop funding deportations and wars and start funding childcare and healthcare,” he said. González-Rojas widened the message, saying, “We march today for our neighbors of all faiths, all religions, all backgrounds and all immigration statuses” and against “corruption, abuse of power, and attacks on our communities.”
Protesters then marched down Queens Boulevard for more than a mile to Queens Borough Hall in Kew Gardens, where Richards again addressed the crowd. “Queens will never bow to a dictator,” he said. “Let’s show them that Donald Trump doesn’t define what America is and what we stand for, because we define what we stand for.”
Additional speakers included U.S. Rep. Grace Meng, Assemblymember Catalina Cruz, Assemblyman Steven Raga, Jessica Rosario of Hands Off NYC, and Dustin Schwartz of the Queens branch organizing committee of the Democratic Socialists of America. The program also featured performances by Disterbenz, led by Gabrielle Sterbenz, and the Curtis Watts Trio with Jennifer Giardina and Vinny Mongeluzo.
The rally closed with remarks from faith leaders including Imam Muhammad Shahidullah, Reverend Jeff Courter, Rabbi Irwin Goldenberg, Elder Louis D. Rodriguez, and Rikki Asher. Shahidullah summed up the spirit of the day with a direct appeal: “We want peace, we want justice, and no kings in Queens.”
In a borough defined by its diversity, the turnout itself became part of the message: Queens, speakers and marchers argued, is strongest when it stands together against fear, division, and authoritarianism.
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