Manhattan was a sea of pink knitted hats and sassy signs — many denouncing President Donald Trump — on Saturday, as thousands of people turned out for the Women’s March on NYC near Columbus Circle and Women’s Unity Rally in Foley Square.
The creatively pulled out all the stops this year, from posters that read, "A woman’s place is in the resistance," and, "Silence is consent," at the Women’s March on NYC, to an epic rainbow Statue of Liberty costume and more at the Women’s Unity Rally.
Here are the most creative signs and costumes amNewYork found at each event and what their creators had to say about them.
Pat Oleszko, 73, of TriBeCa
“Liberty is for all people of all colors,” Oleszko said, adding that it took about two weeks to make the entire costume by hand. “We have to support each other. This is a big deal. It’s lonely out there by ourselves, so we have to keep the energy up.”
Deborah Kaiser, 65, of New Jersey
“Unification is power. We have to continue pressure until Trump is impeached and if we don’t then we become complacent and our voices will not matter.”
Kaiser said Gwen Barktu, of Action Together New Jersey, made the sign for her.
Katt Lissard, of Chelsea
“This is a resist fist that I first used at the big climate march way before Trump was elected. It’s the all-purpose resistance visual. So I’ve been using it and sadly we still need it.”
Robert Ayers, 65, of Brooklyn
“The fact that he behaves like a spoiled brat and has tantrums like a baby," he said of his sign inspiration.
Ayers said he attended the Women’s March on NYC in solidarity with women, "and disgust with everything that Trump stands for and the patriarchy that he is part of."
Julia Werner, 25, of Harlem
“I was having a hard day and I painted how I felt. I was going to break this. I was going to snap in half, throw it down my garbage chute but I woke up this morning and it dawned on me that the reason why I had such a bad day was because of why we’re gathered here today. And I was like wait, this is my sign. So I wrote some of the issues . . . and then I went around and I started asking other people to write what brought them here too.”
Susan Muller, 54, of Afton, New York
“This is a nonstop daily event of continuous lies and it’s become a common thing and it shouldn’t be accepted. It’s sad that it is what it is today.”
Jaryanna Rivera, 18, of the Bronx
“I love Harry Potter and if you think about it, without Hermoine, Harry and Ron would have died in the first 50 pages of the book. It would not have went well. Everything that happened in the series that went well, went well because of her and her intellect. There’s always that woman or girl that’s behind the scenes when something big happens.”
Carmen Mendoza, 23, of Brentwood, New York
“My best friend helped me with posters last night and she couldn’t be here so I told her to make a poster so I could represent for her and she could be here in spirit. It’s pretty much Trump with the wall spitting out of his mouth and a baby bib, because he’s acting like a child.”
Lotta Merlino, 52, of Manhattan
“It’s so important for my daughter to see how important it is to be a woman and that the rights of a woman are very important.”
Jessica Ewud, 31, of Connecticut
“The Women’s March is an amazing time that women can just come out and stand for whatever they want to stand for. That’s why I really like the march. And today I wanted to stand for Ellen [DeGeneres] because I really love Ellen. I think she embodies what every American woman should be. She’s an amazing woman and I wanted to represent her today in New York. That’s why I decided to make this jacket with all her faces on it.”
Diane Bianefry, 69, of Florida
“As we were making [the signs] yesterday, I came across a quote that said, ‘We’re all where we’re supposed to be,’ and I thought that’s exactly what we’re doing today. We’re all coming together exactly where we’re supposed to be right here, right now.”
Kaisii Varner, 31, of Brooklyn and Claire Anderson, 32, Bronx
“I think that because it’s an inclusive Women’s March, intersectionality is definitely important, so I think my sign reflects that," Varner said.
“It’s very important that we be visible and make these statements and fighting on all fronts rather than just picking one cause and fighting for that alone, but also with women in mind and making sure that women are at the center of everything that we’re fighting for," Anderson said.
