Thousands of people in Westchester as well as in locations throughout the Hudson Valley took part in “Hands Off” rallies on April 5, part of a nationwide campaign to protest the policies of the Trump Administration, especially with respect to Elon Musk taking a “chainsaw” to the federal government. There were about 1,200 demonstrations at various times throughout the day, with massive turnouts reported in major cities such as Boston, New York, and Washington
Organizers had used social media to alert people to details of the protest events that were set up for places as far flung as Mamaroneck, Hastings-on-Hudson, Stony Point, Nanuet, Kingston, Newburgh, Highland Falls and Cornwall.
In Mount Kisco, a 10 a.m. rally that was organized next to the Metro-North railroad station attracted an estimated 1,500 participants. Westchester union leaders were on hand with elected officials and representatives of nonprofit organizations to express their displeasure with the massive personnel cuts that have been made to numerous federal departments. A common theme was to decry the threatened cuts to Medicaid and actions that have been taken to shut down Social Security offices.
Many rally participants carried homemade signs demanding that freedom and democracy be preserved. State Sen. Pete Harckham and White Plains Common Councilman Jeremiah Frei-Pearson were among many speakers in Mount Kisco.
State Sen. Shelley Mayer told the rally, “Say to Trump and Lawler (Republican Congressman Mike Lawler of the New York 17th Congressional District), you can make up all the new policies you want. You can try to cut Medicaid. You can try to cut education. You can threaten lawyers. You can threaten judges. You can threaten immigrants and those who speak out, but we are not afraid of you.”
Mayer said she and those at the rally are patriotic and believe in the principles of America. She accused the Trump Administration of trying to turn the county backward.
“They can’t use Social Security as a weapon,” Mayer said. “It belongs to all of us and to all of those who are receiving it, whatever party they’re in. We will never be afraid of our own government and today 1,200 protests across his county are going to send a message that we are here, we are taking our country back. It doesn’t belong to them. Their language, their conduct, their behavior — dump them; we’re taking it back. It’s our country.”
Pat Puleo, former president of the Yonkers Federation of Teachers who still is active with the organization, spoke out against the cuts the Trump Administration has been making to education, saying it’s predicted New York stands to lose $.1.5 billion.
“It’s going to take a lot of days like this to change things,” Puleo said.
Madison Norwich of Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic said, “We’re all here because this is a critical moment in our country. Our rights are on the line right now.”
She pointed out that more than 72 million Americans receive health services through Medicaid, about one in five people in the country. She said that if the proposed cuts to Medicaid actually take place care will be denied to families and people with low incomes, pregnant people, people of reproductive age, children, seniors, people with disabilities, and people of color. Norwich said that in 2023 over half the enrollees in Medicaid were of Black, Hispanic or other non-White ethnicities.
“These are the very people who already face significant barriers to health care,” Norwich said, “The impacts of cutting Medicaid are real and they are dangerous. Cutting Medicaid will widen the disparities in our communities regarding who can access care and stay healthy. This is unacceptable.”
