Students and faculty joined thousands at demonstrations across the city for International Workers’ Day on Friday, denouncing the U.S.-Israel war in Iran, President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration and Israel’s military operations in Gaza.

Local demonstrations commenced in Union Square around 2 p.m., when around a hundred protesters staged a “No Work, No School, No Shopping! National Shutdown!” rally to advocate for labor rights in Palestine, Iran and Cuba. Organizations including the Damayan Migrant Workers Association, National Iranian American Council and Palestinian Youth Movement condemned the Trump administration’s use of taxpayer money to fund “endless wars” and called to dismantle capitalism. After an hour and a half, attendees marched down Fifth Avenue to Washington Square Park, where they joined the Laborers’ International Union of North America.

Just a block away, NYU’s contract and adjunct faculty unions, as well as the American Association of University Professors, joined higher education groups in front of the New School campus at 3 p.m. They rallied in support of its faculty — members of ACT-UAW Local 7902, the same union as NYU adjuncts — who are facing mass layoffs and disruptive program restructuring. Some AAUP members had first joined organizers at St. John’s University’s campus in Queens around noon, before the group traveled to Manhattan.

“What is happening at the New School is really distressing,” Elisabeth Fay, a CAS professor and bargaining member of Contract Faculty United, told WSN. “It wouldn’t be acceptable at NYU, so we’re out today to show our solidarity and to stand with our union siblings at the New School.”

The group picketed and rallied around speakers including former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, as well as representatives from NYU’s Graduate Student Organizing Committee and the New School’s resident assistant union. Demonstrators held signs that read “STOP THE WAR ON UNIVERSITIES” and “HANDS OFF HIGHER ED,” criticizing Trump’s leveraging of federal funding to push universities toward his political demands, federal attempts to shape curricula and attacks on international students and faculty.

At 4 p.m., the higher education unions marched to Washington Square Park. They joined hundreds of other protesters and were shortly addressed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who affirmed the workers’ demands and praised their contributions to operations across New York City. 

Participants chanted “Tax the rich” and vocalized their support of Mamdani’s campaign promise to raise taxes for those earning $1 million or more a year by two percentage points. The plan was initiated last month after Mamdani and Governor Kathy Hochul implemented an annual surcharge on New York City homes worth over $5 million that are not used as a primary residence.

“We know that one of the best ways to uplift worker power is to stand with our unions — there is no New York City without unions,” Mamdani said in his speech. “We will show the world what solidarity means, that a people united, a people organized, cannot be defeated.”

Over 30 organizers from New York City ICE Watch — a group that aims to abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement — rallied in front of the barricaded Schwartz Plaza at around 4 p.m., denouncing Trump’s crackdown on immigration. Stationed next to Bobst Library, attendees said that “ICE abolition is a working class issue,” and added that working class people are targeted by federal agents’ “racist attacks.”

At the same time, NYU’s chapter of Students for a Democratic Society joined Get Free NYC — a local organization advocating for New York state to fund reparations for Black residents — in the park demonstrations. Students held signs that said “STUDENTS STAND WITH WORKERS!” and “NO BUSINESS AS USUAL.”

“Students are uniquely positioned within our democracy to fight back against authoritarianism,” Get Free NYC spokesperson JJ Briscoe, who studies at the Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, told WSN. “Students are the ones who have the chance to use the education that we’re being equipped with for the better, for the good and to stand up.”

Gallatin alum Christi-Ann Lin-Frazie, a member of pro-Palestinian group Shut It Down NYC, also joined dozens waving Palestinian flags and wearing keffiyehs at the park. She said pro-Palestinian advocacy extends to labor movements and other global conflicts, such as U.S.-Israeli wars in Iran and Lebanon. 

“The oppression of voices on college campuses and of SJP at CUNY, NYU and Columbia is all rooted in capitalism and imperialism,” Lin-Frazie said. “These billionaires who are the ruling class work interconnectedly to oppress the working people, oppress the Palestinian people, oppress people in America who are not white and who are not rich.”

Freedom Road Socialist Organization, New York City Democratic Socialists of America and the City University of New York’s Palestinian Solidarity Coalition were among the dozens of groups at the park. Members of New York City Educators for Palestine — which the U.S. Department of Education is probing for allegedly “promoting antisemitism” in public schools — also attended, but declined to speak to WSN due to the ongoing investigation. 

Thousands began marching at around 5 p.m., starting at West Fourth Street before walking down Broadway to Foley Square, carrying banners and signs. Hundreds of police officers walked alongside protesters and blocked off roads, with around two drones and one helicopter monitoring the crowd. The joint demonstration stretched from Canal Street to City Hall, where most organizations dispersed at around 6:30 p.m. 

“Workers uniting in the face of fascism is critical,” David Palmer, ACT-UAW’s NYU Unit Chair, told WSN. “The attack on academic freedom is a workers’ rights issue — people are denied the ability to have a stable workplace environment, a stable paycheck.”

A group of about 30 protesters broke off 15 minutes later to continue their own demonstration,  — followed by about 25 police officers — and held Palestinian flags while chanting “Fuck ICE” and “Eat the rich.” They marched to the U.S. Marine Corps Recruiting Station, denouncing its efforts to enlist minors, where police pushed protesters and blocked the entrance to the building. 

At 7:40 p.m., they stopped in front of Google’s New York City headquarters and condemned its allegedly unfair treatment of contract workers, as well as its history of tracking and sharing of users’ private data, before dispersing around 8 p.m. 

“We want people to name their enemies — there are people in these buildings, in these industries that need to be confronted,” rallygoer Jonathan Gartrelle told WSN. “By confronting those buildings we’re also giving the workers inside courage and saying you don’t have to be a part of this. You can resist in the ways that you want.”

In the evening, NYU’s Students for International Labor Solidarity held a vigil to “mourn the thousands of innocent people who have been brutalized, disappeared and murdered by ICE.” Members read poetry and sang songs at the Holley Statue where they placed flowers and photos. 

May Day protests trace back to the late 19th century, when workers campaigned for an eight-hour workday in Chicago during a clash with the police. Today, May Day is a holiday in many countries and it is celebrated with rallies advocating for labor rights and economic equality.

“Labor is hard and we need laborers, but we’re not gonna do the work if we’re not being treated with dignity, with respect, paid proper and livable wages,” Antonio Rosario — a member of Teamsters Local 804, which represents UPS workers in New York — said in a speech during the Union Square protest. “These are the things we must continue to fight for.”

Justin Yen contributed reporting.

Contact Leena Ahmed, Natalie Deoragh, Zachary Karp, Selin Kemiktarak and Eva Mundo at [email protected].