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THE BEST SIGNS OF THIS YEAR’S MAY DAY PROTESTS  
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Maya Pontone
May 2, 2025
Hyperallergic
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_ From criticism of mass deportations to hilarious roasts of the
president, May 1 was a nationwide show of art-filled resistance
against the Trump administration. _

A protester holds a sign featuring gold coins dropping into President
Trump's hollow head like a piggybank., Rhea Nayyar/Hyperallergic

 

Mayday! Mayday!

From coast to coast, hundreds of thousands of demonstrators flooded
streets across the United States to commemorate May Day, also known as
International Workers Day, annually observed on the first of the month
around the world. This year’s labor rallies, which follow last
month’s Hands Off! demonstrations
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were heavily focused on immigration
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healthcare, trans rights, federal workers
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education, and the US-backed Israeli bombardment of Gaza, in a
nationwide show of art-filled resistance against the second Trump
administration.

In New York City, protesters congregated in Manhattan’s Union Square
and Foley Square for rallies organized by The People’s Forum
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and the American Civil Liberties Union, respectively. The
demonstrations called attention first and foremost to workers’
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rights, especially with the backdrop of mass layoffs
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at cultural institutions
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across the country
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But they were also filled to the brim with homemade signs, colorful
banners, and elaborate costumes that rebuked Trump’s highly
scrutinized expansion of power.

From sharp criticism of mass deportations to hilarious roasts of the
president and his billionaire senior advisor, below are some
highlights from yesterday’s protests captured by _Hyperallergic_.

. . .

At the makeshift “Gates of Hell” installed at The People’s Forum
in Union Square (photo Rhea Nayyar/_Hyperallergic_)

At the ACLU’s Foley Square rally, one protester donned the signature
uniform worn of _The Handmaid’s Tale_. (photo Maya
Pontone/_Hyperallergic_)

In Foley Square, a protester holds up an anti-Trump sign that speaks
for itself. (photo Maya Pontone/_Hyperallergic_)

Freelance journalist and author Kate Manning brought this homemade
sign that both criticized the Republican party’s billionaire
tax-breaks as well as called attention to Trump’s controversial
tariffs, which have raised the price of egg imports. (photo Maya
Pontone/_Hyperallergic_)

A protester holds a Trump effigy atop a makeshift US Constitution in
downtown Manhattan. (photo Maya Pontone/_Hyperallergic_)

Many protesters called attention to Trump’s mass deportations, which
resulted in the mistaken deportation of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia
to El Salvador. (photo Maya Pontone/_Hyperallergic_)

Fed up with Elon Musk’s interference in political and economic
affairs, one protester calls on Musk’s deportation as the government
closes in on undocumented civilians and outspoken permanent residents.
(photo Rhea Nayyar/_Hyperallergic_)

A May Day demonstrator holds up a handmade sign decrying billionaire
Elon Musk’s highly scrutinized federal interventions (photo Maya
Pontone/_Hyperallergic_)

A homemade sign compares the president to rotten excrement (photo Maya
Pontone/_Hyperallergic_)

Members of Students for a Democratic Society hold up a banner
featuring figures in Palestinian keffiyehs, alluding to the federal
government’s crackdown on student protests for Gaza (photo Maya
Pontone/_Hyperallergic_)

A sign that reads “Remove, Reverse, Reclaim” echoes the “Delay,
Deny Defend” rallying cry of insurance critics, as well as the words
“Deny, Defend, Depose,” which were found on the ammunition that
killed healthcare executive Brian Thompson in December. (photo Maya
Pontone/_Hyperallergic_)

Tenant organizers decry the rising rental prices, which have
disproportionately affected low-income communities of color in NYC.
(photo Maya Pontone/_Hyperallergic_)

In Foley Square, protester held up a sign alluding to George
Orwell’s anti-authoritarism novel _1984_ (1949) (photo Maya
Pontone/_Hyperallergic_)

A handmade sign criticizing Trump’s attacks on immigrants and
passage of policies that benefit billionaires (photo Maya
Pontone/_Hyperallergic_)

At the front of the ACLU rally, demonstrators carried a banner that
underscored the power of mass mobilization. (photo Maya
Pontone/_Hyperallergic_)

A protester held up a handmade sign decrying the government’s
cozying up to the billionaire class. (photo Maya
Pontone/_Hyperallergic_)

A couple marched down Broadway with effigies of Donald Trump and Elon
Musk (photo Maya Pontone/_Hyperallergic_)

Yesterday’s rally was filled with signage telling the federal
government to keep its “Hands Off” civil rights, healthcare
protections, and education. (photo Maya Pontone/_Hyperallergic_)

A protester holding a handmade sign criticizing the Trump
administration’s blatant disregard for constitutional law and checks
and balances (photo Maya Pontone/_Hyperallergic_)

Yesterday’s May Day rallies were decidedly pro-immigrant and
anti-Trump (photo Maya Pontone/_Hyperallergic_)

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