TWF 352 - Protest At Merrick Train Station Was Hugely Successful

 Hello, friends,

I hope this message finds you well.  As we reported on our Facebook pages (both our "Page" and our "group"), there was a protest today at the Merrick Train Station.

Remember:  Any nearby/Nassau County protests will be announced on that Facebook group, so if you haven't already checked it out, check it!

As a tentative heads up, it looks like 50501 is going to be doing a May 1st protest.  I won't be able to cover that one due to prior engagements, but I do support them!

That said, let's talk about our Merrick Train Station protest:

Merrick Train Station Protest.  Photo by Jesse Pohlman

About The April 19th Protests In Merrick, NY

It was definitely an interesting experience, as most of the people were gathered in the east-side parking lot.  That meant that as you approached the train station itself, it was hard to see the action.  But the trickle of people with signs told me all I needed to know, and I parked as close to the protests as I could, hoofed it over, and stood actually at the front of the westbound lane's line of sign-holders.

It was a nice experience.

It wasn't perfect, of course.  There were a couple of trucks that drove by with Trump flags or flipping us off.  One lady parked her car in front of the protest line, got out of it, whipped out an American flag and started chanting "Trump" until the cops forced her to move for blocking traffic.  One person decried us all as terrorists, which was funny because January 6th happened and they don't seem to mind insurrectionist terrorists, so...That's noteworthy.5

But at the same time, the number of people honking and giving a thumbs up was huge.

I'm not a professional crowd estimator, but I'd estimate about a thousand people came out for the event.  There were speakers, many of whom came from various Democratic Party clubs in the area - sort of a surprise to see them out and about, to be honest.

After all, the whole Merrick event was organized by the Merrick-Bellmore Democratic Club.  So, props to them.

I might not be a Democrat at this time (Go Working Families Party!  I can hook you up if you have any questions), but I'm happy to see my former party actually starting to wake up and go, "Holy shit this is a real threat."

Whether that'll pay off in the long run is another story, but, yeah.

Other Protest Events Which Took Place Today, April 19th, 2025.

My understanding is there were two other protests planned in just the Long Island area.

One was a continuation of the Tesla Takedown campaign up in Manhasset, but that's a specific movement with a specific goal.

The other was a similar event to the Merrick one, but held out in Patchouge.  I don't know who organized it, but my hope is that it went just as well.  If you're someone who attended, please leave a comment on this article and I'll be happy to add a little credit.

Anyway, until next time:  Be safe, be strong, and don't tolerate Fascist shit.

TWF 351 - Hands Off Protests At Nassau County Courthouse; Huge Crowd!

Hello, friends,

Hope you're all doing well.  I'm pretty happy, all things considered, as today I'm happy to report on the sheer size of the Hands Off rally at the Nassau County Courthouse which took place just hours ago!

Let's Talk About The Event

The event was especially geared towards NOSH, a north-shore food pantry.  See, food pantries and other help-the-poor projects were hampered by harsh funding cuts and support slashing.  So the goal was to help gather a whole bunch of food, or at least donations to that organization.

NOSH isn't the only food pantry in the area.  In fact, Freeport has one, the Long Island Food Pantry, that I'm sure could also use donations and other forms of support.

With that said, food banks weren't the only goal of the event:  It was, after all, a protest!

I know that picture might be chaotic, but if you look straight at the center you'll see what is, in fact, a mobile billboard.  There was a mobile billboard brought to bear.  Neat.

In all seriousness - despite the rain, estimates are that about 2,100 people confirmed they would be attending.  That number may have been predicated on people saying they'd go who later didn't, but it also included people who weren't on the e-mail list.

I've been to a number of protests at the courthouse and I've never seen it this crowded.  Or, if I have, it's been a long time.  Maybe one of the Roe v Wade protests matched it, but the Schumer/Gillibrand protests - though large! - didn't come close to matching what I saw today.

I missed it!  How do I find out about future events?

First of all, insofar as it falls on me to tell you protests are taking place, I'm sorry I kinda dropped the ball on this one.  My neck has been extra-bad, so I've been dropping balls.  ...Okay that's ripe for a joke.  Back to seriousness:  Surgeon appointment near the end of the month, then we schedule a cut or two.

That said, I recently did a video on my Dystopian Review channel all about the various organizations and protest lists you can look up.  That includes Mobilize.us as well as the Big List Of Protests.

These resources and others like it will help you stay in touch with local organizers who might be hosting an event near you.

With all that in mind, I'll try to do a better job of announcing these events ahead of time for the next one, but I'm quite sure there will be a next one.

What if I don't agree with the protests?

I dunno?  Organize a counter-protest if you can find the people to do it?  But you should probably be open to reconsidering your position, and this publication won't be helping you.

Remember:  I'm not politically neutral except in matters exclusive to Freeport.

Thank you for reading.

Jesse Pohlman is a retired teacher and former Rec Center lifeguard who now busies himself writing sci-fi/fantasy and political stuff.  Check out his website here!