Jan. 17, 2017 By Hannah Wulkan
A Jackson Heights resident is organizing community members to get involved with the New York offshoot of the national “Women’s March” to protest Donald Trump’s inauguration as President.
Len Maniace, a Jackson Heights community member working outside his role of running the Jackson Heights Beautification Group, has registered a Jackson Heights group to participate in the Women’s March on NYC on January 21. The Jackson Heights group, he said, will meet at 75th Street and Roosevelt Avenue at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday and will then go to the march together.
“A lot of people in Jackson Heights are alarmed that Donald Trump is about to become President and, in the best traditions of our nation and the First Amendment, want to make their voices heard,” Maniace said.
“The election results show that people in Jackson Heights voted overwhelmingly for someone other than Donald Trump. Going as a group, with friends and neighbors, helps combat the feeling that individuals are alone and can’t make a difference. We can make a difference by sticking together and this march in New York City will just be the beginning,” he added.
The Women’s March on NYC is an offshoot of a similar march planned in Washington D.C., initially started as a way for women and supporters to “send a bold message to our new government on their first day in office, and to the world that women’s rights are human rights,” according to the main Women’s March website.
The group meeting in Jackson Heights will travel together to the starting point of the march at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza on Second Avenue and 48th Street in Manhattan to begin marching at 12:30 p.m.
The march will then travel south on 2nd Avenue to 42nd Street, west on 42nd Street to 5th Avenue, and north on 5th Avenue to end at Trump Tower.
Maniace said he is unsure how many people will show up from Jackson Heights, but expects at least a few dozen, with more than 100 people liking the Facebook page he set up for the event.
“Our idea was to publicize the parade in New York and let people know they can participate even if they can’t go to the big march in Washington D.C.,” he said.
Since Maniace launched the Facebook page last week, other Jackson Heights groups have helped organize the event, including the New Visions Democratic Club of Jackson Heights.
For more information and up to date scheduling details visit https://www.facebook.com/JHPeopleAgainstTrump/. For more details on the Women’s March on NYC, visit https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ByzTx4eyTpWtZp-HDv0kxzaOTTYe04NPnQH1L312JZY/edit#
