Last week on July 1, Nadia Topete, an immigrant rights activist and organizer with Centro CSO, was issued a grand jury subpoena by police in Los Angeles. By now, it’s clear the purpose of this grand jury is to investigate and harass organizers who mobilized to resist ICE oppression in Los Angeles last summer.

The New York Alliance is proud to stand in solidarity with Nadia and all other immigrant rights organizers facing this vile repression throughout the country, which we condemn in the strongest possible terms. Repression against activists takes many forms, and the grand jury is one of the key legal tools weaponized against organized movements.

Grand juries are secret proceedings often used against activists in order to criminalize dissent and weaken our movements. 

Nadia was first subpoenaed to testify in June, and now they’ve come for her again. It’s clear this grand jury is being called to pressure Nadia into talking about last summer’s anti-ICE protests — which led to bogus conspiracy charges against fellow organizer Alejandro Orellana that were later dropped. 

We demand that US Attorney Bilal Essayli and assistant US Attorney Michael Wheat drop the grand jury investigation now! 

Hands off Nadia! 

End repression of all immigration activists!

#NewYorkNY #NY #NYC #NYAARPR #NadiaTopete #ImmigrantRights #PoliticalRepression

NYC, NY – On June 28, beginning in Union Square, Manhattan, thousands participated in the annual Queer Liberation March.

The event is an alternative to the Pride march and gives the radical and militant activists in the LGBTQ community the opportunity to organize away from the corporate sponsors of Pride.

The annual march always hosts a large array of progressive, leftist and revolutionary organizations who uphold the militant legacy of 1969 Stonewall Riots, where the LGBTQ community of NYC’s Village fought back fiercely against violent police raids.

One organization present at the march was Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), which led a contingent of 700 people at its height.

Chants included “Out of the closet and into the streets, no justice, no peace!” “We will not be quiet, Stonewall was a fucking riot!” “Say it loud and say it clear, ICE and feds ain’t welcome here!” Flags showing solidarity with Palestine and Lebanon were also present.

The march went from Union Square to the ICE headquarters at 26 Federal Plaza, showing solidarity with immigrants detained by ICE.

A participant in the march and member of FRSO, Shivani Ishwar, said, “The cause of queer liberation is much bigger than a corporate Pride parade. We understand that all rights that queer and trans people have were earned in blood. The system is trying to claw back those rights, with crackdowns on queer and trans communities nationwide, along with the terror being unleashed on immigrants by ICE and the feds. We recognize that we must continue to stand together in militant solidarity, to protect those rights and to win our demand for liberation. Until all of us are free, no one is, and that goes for every community under attack by the Trump administration and U.S. imperialism.”

#NewYorkNY #NY #NYC #LGBTQ #Pride #Stonewall #ImmigrantRights

NYC, NY – On the steps of Tweed Courthouse in Lower Manhattan, at least 200 unionized teachers and community members gathered June 4 to demand the New York City Department of Education provide more protections from ICE for immigrant students.

June 4 was “Chancellor’s Day” and DoE officials, like Chancellor Kamar Samuels, gathered at Tweed Courthouse for meetings and for professional development. The activists chose this day and location to pressure them while they were inside the building.

The plans for the rally began with a small grassroots group of educators in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, where ICE attacks on immigrant students and their families have been extremely prevalent. The organizers then brought the idea to the NYC Immigration Coalition, a group of local progressive non-profits, which includes Hands Off NYC, which then took up the call and helped organize the event.

They also brought the call to the Movement of Rank and File Educators, MORE, the reform caucus within the teachers union, the UFT. Members of MORE brought numbers and militancy to the event, providing signs with slogans like “DOE: We demand support for immigrants” and “DOE must act now to support immigrant families.”

MORE activist and Sunset Park teacher Caitlin Cahill, one of the original organizers of the event, said, “Schools are such natural places for organizing to happen, and in this case, teachers came together organically because we could see the need. We saw what was happening to our students and parents in our communities. The UFT helped to get the ball rolling with training on creating a School-based Plan to Support Immigrant Students and Families. This gave us an initial framework to work from. Then, I looked to MORE for guidance on rally support and amplification of our message because MORE knows what grassroots organizing looks like and shows up.”

The leadership of the UFT also officially endorsed the rally, which helped build up the numbers of union members in the crowd. Katie Kurjakovich, the UFT’s English language learners specialist, gave a speech on what the UFT is doing to protect immigrant students and teachers, including the Know Your Rights trainings that they have been providing.

The organizers delivered a petition demanding more centralized guidance, funding, and training to protect immigrant students, signed by more than 2000 people, to the DoE officials exiting the building.

nJess Mary, another MORE organizer and teacher, said, “Myself and fellow teachers attended the rally to make demands of the mayor's office and the DOE to protect our immigrant communities. Our union has the power to put pressure on educational leadership to protect us and our students. The protections for our immigrant students, coworkers, families and communities cannot wait.”

#NewYorkNY #NY #Teachers #Education #ImmigrantRights

New York, NY – On June 4, New Yorkers protested outside of the annual New York City Police Foundation Gala at the Intrepid Museum in Manhattan, where billionaires representing some of the top financial, tech and political dynasties in New York City gathered to donate millions of dollars to the New York Police Department.

The crowd of 75 protesters, led by the New York Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NYAARPR), shamed each gala attendee as they arrived, chanting “Blood on your hands!”

The New York City Police Foundation is a 501©(3) non-profit which funnels millions of dollars each year into the already bloated NYPD budget. The money goes to programs which surveil communities, pilot new technologies, and extend the reach of the NYPD.

For example, one of the foundation’s principal programs is the International Liaison program, which establishes NYPD offices in cities across the world, including in Tel Aviv. Additionally, donors who attend the gala tend to get massive contracts with the NYPD These include companies like surveillance giant Palantir, and Motorola, the company supplying cops with their radios. Both have made huge contributions at the gala which have turned into major contracts with the NYPD.

The protesters assembled outside of the gala to demand a public police force that does not function like a private piggy bank for billionaires, but that is accountable to the people of New York City. At the protest, NYAARPR demanded: No funding for killer cops; community control, not billionaire control; and justice for Eudes Pierre and all victims of police violence.

Speakers at the rally included representatives of NYU Students for a Democratic Society, Brooklyn Against War, Adolfina, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and the Coalition for Justice for Eudes Pierre.

Sheina Banatte, cousin of Eudes Pierre, who was killed by the NYPD in December 2021, said, “The money being wasted to fund racism and corruption here at this gala can best be spent in the community places and spaces that can truly benefit people, families, community and quality of life.” She continued, “We will keep fighting for community control of the police, justice for Eudes Pierre, and justice for all stolen lives.”

After the program concluded, protesters tore open several pig head effigies, scattering red paint splattered money in the street to symbolize the blood money raised at the gala. The protest then marched through the streets of Manhattan chanting, “NYPD kills on patrol! How do we stop them? Community control!”

#NewYorkNY #NY #NYC #InjusticeSystem #NYPD #PeoplesStruggles

Brooklyn, NY – on the evening of June 3, around two dozen New Yorkers gathered outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn to stand in solidarity with Cuba and Venezuela and against the ongoing aggression from the United States.

The Trump administration has charged Raul Castro, the former president of Cuba, with murder in connection to the downing of civilian planes in 1996. These charges are bogus. They are an escalation of the U.S. attacks on Latin America that began last year when the Trump administration set its eyes on Venezuela.

The day also marked the fifth month since President Maduro and First Lady Flores were kidnapped from their home. The Trump administration launched a bombing operation on Venezuela on January 3 where close to 100 people were killed, including 32 Cuban bodyguards.

The action had a high energy and there were many organizations in attendance, such as Black Alliance for Peace, Bronx Antiwar, Palavar Collective, and Brooklyn Against War.

Joe Lombard from the United National Antiwar Coalition gave a speech discussing the importance of solidarity and standing up to U.S. imperialism.

Katrina Kozarek from Brooklyn Against War stated, “We will continue to resist systems of oppression here in the U.S. and to do so, we must also reject and stand up against U.S. oppression and complicity against the peoples of the Caribbean, South America, Palestine, Iran and everywhere. We demand an end to all U.S. sanctions against Cuba and Venezuela now! Free President Maduro and Cilia Flores – we demand they be returned safe and sound to their homeland!”

The organizers will return to the courthouse for President Maduro and First Lady Flores’ hearing on June 30.

#NewYorkNY #NY #NYC #Cuba #Venezuela #AntiWarMovement #PeoplesStruggles

This was the first LIRR strike since 1994. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority of New York (MTA) failed to bargain in good faith, according to the rail unions involved, and workers hadn’t received a raise since 2022. The MTA offered a wage proposal that would have resulted in a 2.8% loss in real wages because of rising inflation. The workers demanded a 16% wage increase over three years. This set wages up to be one of the main issues at the bargaining table, along with changes to work rules.

The striking workers were represented by five different unions: the Teamsters-affiliated Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen (BLET), the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Transportation Communications Union. Together, those unions represent 55% of the unionized workforce at the Long Island Rail Road.

Although the details of the tentative agreement have not been publicly shared, BLET Vice President Kevin Sexton stated, “After years of negotiations, we've finally received an agreement that reflects the value our members bring to this railroad.”

The strike began at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, May 16, with 24 picket locations across Long Island and Manhattan. The process to get to the strike was very long, including years of negotiations, mediation from the National Mediation Board, and two Presidential Emergency Boards. This long and bureaucratic process comes from the Railway Labor Act, which applies to the airline and railroad industries and often seeks to prevent militant strikes in those important logistics fields.

In this case, the federal mediators sided, in a non-binding decision, with the union’s demands for real wage increases.

Democratic New York Governor Kathy Hochul was a key anti-worker politician throughout the fight. She has significant power over the MTA and appointed its CEO Janno Lieber. Hochul insisted that raises would lead to an 8% increase in fares. However, she and Lieber have now said that there will be no increase to fares or taxes since the strike was settled.

The tentative agreement is currently being reviewed and voted on by union workers. This was a significant rail strike and as such has been watched closely by other transit union workers, wondering if this may set a new precedent in union negotiations across the railroad and transit industries.

#NewYorkNY #NY #Labor #LIRR #MTA

New York, NY – Community members joined together at Washington Square Park on Friday, May 16, in remembrance of the 78th anniversary of the Nakba, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were murdered, maimed and permanently displaced from their homes, by Israel.

The rally kicked off under the Washington Square Arch with chants of “Zionism has got to go” and “Israel bombs, USA pays.” Shortly after the afternoon Asr prayer, the roughly 500 attendees began a march through Manhattan, uniting around slogans like “From Palestine to the Philippines, stop the U.S. war machine!”

The rally and march were organized by New York-based Palestinian group Within Our Lifetime, with contingents led by groups like the Muslim American Society and the Freedom Road Socialist Organization. Also in attendance were members from Brooklyn Against War, Al-Awda, and the New York Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, as well as a contingent of Orthodox Jewish protesters led by Rabbi Dovid Feldman.

Together, attendees helped unfurl a massive Palestinian flag, which they carried through the streets of Manhattan for several hours until the Maghrib sunset prayer at Times Square, where the march ended.

Before the march, Within Our Lifetime cofounder Nerdeen Kiswani told the crowd that “the state of Israel and Zionism must be abolished.”

“I do not and will never recognize Israel's so-called right to exist,” Kiswani continued. “It has no right to exist.”

Shivani Ishwar, member of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, concurred. “We acknowledge the 78 years the Palestinians have been oppressed, and unable to return to their homes,” Ishwar said. “We support a full right to return, we support the cause of a liberated Palestine free from Israeli settlers, free from genocide, and free from repression.”

#NewYorkNY #NY #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #Nakba

New York, NY – On Wednesday, May 6, the Movement of Rank and File Educators gathered for general assembly in Midtown Manhattan. More than 40 classroom teachers from across the city met to discuss the presence of NYPD in schools and the police’s role in oppressing the student body of New York and intimidating teachers and staff in schools. The group was joined by the Dignity in Schools organization, which is against scanners and police in schools.

The meeting began with a teach-in on the history of policing in schools in NYC, which first began in the 1970s after the United Federation of Teachers made a mistake by striking against Black and Puerto Rican parents who wanted to exercise control over their children’s schools, known as the Oceanhill – Brownesville strike. The UFT, led by Albert Shanker, made an historic mistake by pitting the rights of white teachers to a job against the rights of Black and brown parents to decide who taught their children, instead of uniting the struggles together against a common enemy.

The assembly moved on to discuss the way language in the UFT contract about students “disruptive behavior” has been used by teachers to have students removed from their classes. This practice disproportionately affects Black and brown students today.

They also talked about how the NYPD imposes expensive scanners for students onto certain schools, and obscures data about where these scanners are located in the city. It can be assumed that most scanners are placed in majority Black and brown schools. Some students in the NYC public school system are required to go through metal detectors and scanners operated by cops and are treated as possible suspects when they get to school.

The frequent delays at scanning make students late to school and makes it more difficult for teachers in the classroom to teach their lessons. The group discussed how the money that goes into expensive scanners could easily be used to give teachers better working conditions, and students better learning conditions, or funneled into job positions in the school that are staffed by unions.

The teachers then broke out into groups to talk about the situations in their schools, and, with the help of a campaign toolkit, some came up with plans to get rid of racist scanning and NYPD presence in their schools through rank-and-file mobilization and engagement of the broader school community.

#NewYorkNY #NYC #NY #MORE #UFT #Labor #PoliceAccountability #Teachers

NYC, NY – On April 26, a dedicated group of rank-and-file organizers from the MORE Caucus, the opposition caucus within the United Federation of Teachers, held their annual “State of Our Union” event, in the City University of New York Grad Center, where they sum up the year of union organizing and prepare for what’s to come.

Issues discussed were the specific struggles that MORE members are waging in their union chapters, a report from the MORE steering committee, and the new 2027 contract campaign.

Regarding the growing contract campaign, MORE members strategized around how to use the new contract battle as a way to organize rank-and-file coworkers, do political education and contract education, how to involve the community that they serve in their contract struggle, and how and when to engage in a struggle against UFT leadership to meet the demands of rank-and-file unionists. They also discussed the possibility of struggling for some form of open bargaining, as opposed to the UFT’s current very closed bargaining strategy.

The “State of Our Union” event served as a positive review of what was accomplished, and a critical look at what can be improved in the caucus’s organizing in the future.

#NewYorkNY #NY #Labor #UFT #MORE #Teachers

NYC, NY – Over 100 NYU students and community members gathered at the Third Rail in Brooklyn to participate in a concert organized by the NYU Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). The concert raised funds for Make the Road NY, an immigrant-led nonprofit that provides legal services and other aid to immigrants in the city. The concert raised $748 through ticket sales to donate to the organization and $396 through merchandise sales to help send members out to the SDS national convention this fall.

Levi, Badger Hunters, Bullseye, and Oldseye all performed sets varying in genres from anti-folk to country rock to punk. Outside of the venue, there was a campfire where people made smores and cooked hotdogs to eat while conversing. SDS members were at a table selling merchandise ranging from shirts to buttons. In between sets, speakers from various student activist groups spoke to the importance of fighting ICE, standing in solidarity with immigrants and fighting for a sanctuary campus.

Ebtesham Ahmed from the NYU Students for a Democratic Society emceed for the night, rallying the crowd with chants, introducing speakers and bands. Ahmed led the crowd in chanting “It is right to rebel! ICE and Trump go to hell!” and “We want justice you say how? Sanctuary right now!”

Calvin Kellenberger from the NYU Students for a Democratic Society stated, “Tonight, though, we have been given a rare opportunity. Tonight, resistance just so happens to be fun. All the proceeds from this show are going to support immigrant defense work being done right here in New York; and so tonight, resistance is movement, rhythm and melody. We’ve got a great set ready for you all tonight, and some more great speakers throughout, so relax, let loose, and let’s have a great night!”

Andres Luke from the NYU Young Democratic Socialists of America told the crowd, “So be it through YDSA, SDS, another other organizing body, a local community, be it through attending events, canvassing, promoting legislation, participating in walking groups, attending a deportation defense training, printing flyers, or even just taking them we must keep going. Change is possible but only through collective action and any effort towards moving the needle forward is worth it. We must fight to bring those 60,000 home. We reject ICE now and always. Make NYU a sanctuary campus, make New York a sanctuary city and make the United States a sanctuary nation.”

Sophie Franklin from the Students for International Labor Solidarity said, “Right now SILS is launching a campaign called DROP ICE! and we hope you’ll join us. We are calling on the university to urgently cut its direct monetary ties with corporations that house and transport ICE agents, such as Hilton and Enterprise and to promise and enforce a sanctuary campus.”

To end off the speeches for the night, Ahmed read the letter that was delivered to the university administration on February 20 alongside their petition, which now has 1000 signatures. Ahmed stated, though the administration has not yet responded nor met with SDS, they are confident they will have a sanctuary campus because the student group will continue to struggle and fight to win their demands. They led the crowd with the chant “Dare to struggle! Dare to win!”

Wrapping up for the night, eventgoers were encouraged to participate in a May Day student contingent happening to stand in solidarity with immigrants and workers. In addition, eventgoers were notified of the attempt to create a Turning Point USA chapter at NYU, with a promise from organizers to work hard to shut it down.

#NewYorkNY #NY #ImmigrantRights #SDS #YDSA #StudentMovement

New York, NY – Filipino community organizations and their allies rallied outside of the Philippine Consulate in New York City, April 20, to call for an end to U.S. military involvement in the Philippines.

The protest marks the beginning of the month-long Balikatan joint military exercises between the United States, the Philippines, Japan, Canada, France and New Zealand. The organizers included the New York Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (NYCHRP), Malaya Movement, and BAYAN. Speakers also included members of Anakbayan as well as Filipino residents whose families are still living in the country.

An unconscionable waste of needed fuel

In the midst of crisis-level fuel prices, criminalization of labor organizing and protest, and exorbitant military spending, these war preparations come at a steep price for the average Filipino family, and should be terminated immediately.

The United States and Israel’s war on Iran has spiked fuel prices across the globe and has had a devastating effect in the Philippines. The average price for one liter of fuel currently exceeds the daily minimum wage in the country, and many Filipinos are unable to pay. Filipino workers and parents are having to skip meals and make other serious sacrifices in order to make ends meet. Meanwhile, the Marcos-Duterte regime has stockpiled enough fuel for an entire month of military drills—fuel that is desperately needed by the Filipino people.

No support for immigrant workers

Community organizers denounced Marcos’ bid to join the United Nations Security Council, as well as the UN’s decision to use the Philippines’ migrant worker policies as a model for the rest of the world. Those policies have caused severe harm to the Filipino people and should not be emulated.

Speakers denounced the ways that the Marcos-Duterte regime has turned its back on immigrant workers, including by refusing to support Filipino immigrants kidnapped by ICE and detained for months without a trial. The Philippines supplies more than 20% of the world’s seafarers, including commercial shipping workers as well as cruise workers. Right now, many of those same Filipino workers are stranded on oil tankers in or near the Strait of Hormuz as a result of Trump’s illegal war. Those workers are not being paid but are unable to return home, while their government continues to support the United States and Israel’s war.

The expansion of U.S. military presence and the campaign to kick Cerberus out of the Philippines

NYCHRP members also announced a new campaign targeting Cerberus Capital Management (CCM), a Manhattan-based private equity firm that has unjustly acquired 300 hectares of land on a former U.S. military base in Subic Bay, in the Philippines. The U.S. Navy was expelled from Subic Bay in 1991 after massive community uprisings against human rights abuses and environmental destruction by the U.S. military. Now, CCM is leasing that same land to U.S. weapons and defense contractors, and plans were recently announced to build the world’s largest munitions factory on that same land in Subic Bay, which will be the first U.S. ammunition plan in Asia.

The presence of CCM in Subic Bay has additional devastating effects on the local working-class communities: peasant communities are subject to bombings and displacement, fisherfolk are not permitted to fish during military drills, including the Balikatan exercises, and women and children living near U.S. bases are frequent victims of sex trafficking and assault.

NYCHRP and BAYAN members who visited Subic Bay in November 2025 reported: “Fisherfolk whose livelihoods depend on fishing near Subic Bay now face more and more problems with more coastal guards, maritime guards and militarization of the sea. The areas they are able to fish are now heavily restricted. There have been incidents of fishermen venturing out to get better catches and the Chinese Coast Guard is shooting water cannons at them. They can’t even pass close by to Cerberus’s complex because private security will point guns at them.”

This issue is especially pertinent for New Yorkers because the New York City Employees Retirement System and the New York State Teachers Retirement System have invested funds in Cerberus. To join NYCHRP’s campaign against Cerberus, email nychrp@protonmail.com.

#NewYorkNY #NY #NYC #Philippines #Bayan #International #NYCHRP #AntiWarMovement

New York, NY – Organizers from the New York Alliance Against Racist and Political Oppression held a speakout outside New York City Hall on Friday, April 18, to protest the dramatic rise in police violence against Black men across the city since the beginning of April.

New York Alliance Chair Shivani Ishwar noted that, in April alone, the NYPD has shot three Black men – Lucien Colon, Carlos Santiago and Anthony Griffin – and maimed another, Timothy Brown, in a racist attack in downtown Brooklyn.

The speakout began on the corner of Center and Chamber Streets, where members of the New York Alliance handed out flyers, gave fiery speeches, and connected New Yorkers to their campaign for community control of the police.

Organizers staged their protest near a busy subway station, where they were able to take advantage of rush-hour traffic to educate the community about police violence and the struggle for community control.

“We are here today because we demand justice for Lucien Colon, Carlos Santiago and Anthony Griffin,” NYAARPR organizer Quinn Hughes. “We are here to say that we refuse these conditions. Our demands are clear. We call on Mayor Zohran Mamdani to fire and arrest these officers, justice for all victims of police violence, and community control now.”

In her speech, NYAARPR organizer Ruby Doswell said there are “no excuses for the police to kill a man.”

“Police should not feel comfortable enough to kill a person in any circumstance,” Doswell said. “It’s no coincidence that Black and brown men are consistently met with violence and force instead of de-escalation, care, or support.”

Organizers likewise observed this isn't a new phenomenon. They noted that the case of Eudes Pierre, another Black man shot and killed by the police in December of 2021, follows the exact same pattern of racist violence. As organizers wrapped up the action, they affirmed their commitment to continue the struggle for community control of the police, a fight which takes on renewed urgency under the recent wave of NYPD violence.

#NewYorkNY #NY #NYC #NYAARPR #NAARPR #InJusticeSystem #OppressedNationalities #KillerCop #EudesPierre