Major Democratic Election Rally on the UWS: ‘Epicenter of the Voting Powerhouse of America’

By Gus Saltonstall

The atmosphere was positively charged within the Upper West Side’s Verdi Square on West 72nd Street for the Let’s Go Dems rally on Sunday morning.

A few hundred people, many of whom held New York For Harris and Walz signs, along with locals carrying posters for neighborhood Democratic clubs, were joined by a long list of Democratic elected officials that included Rep. Jerry Nadler, Sen. Chuck Schumer, Rep. Adriano Espaillat, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, Comptroller Brad Lander, Councilmembers Gale Brewer and Shaun Abreu, Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal, State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, and more.

The rally began around 11:30 a.m., with Levine, who organized the event, serving as the emcee, introducing the different speakers.

“This is the epicenter of the voting powerhouse of America,” Levine told West Side Rag before the event began, about the reason for hosting the rally on the Upper West Side. “The neighborhood has a long history of Democratic activism. We’ll mobilize the whole world here today.”

Many of the speakers remained consistent in their talking points about the upcoming November election. While Manhattan will undoubtedly go blue, the borough and city as a whole could still play a large part through the following channels.

• Control of the White House might come down to who wins Pennsylvania, and Democratic Manhattanites could look for opportunities to go campaign in the nearby state, phone bank, or take part in other petitioning initiatives.
• Control of the House of Representatives could be decided by half-a-dozen competitive districts near New York City on Long Island and in the Hudson Valley. Similar to Pennsylvania, Democratic Manhattanites could look for ways to get involved in those races.
• Multiple speakers also mentioned Proposal 1, or the New York Equal Rights Amendment, which will be on the November ballot and would enshrine reproductive rights in the state constitution. Levine mentioned that polling shows “it’s a lot closer than you might think” with voters throughout the state.

Two people that were not in attendance on the sunny Sunday morning were Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul, the latter of whom was on the flier for the rally as a participant.

There was a group of pro-congestion pricing supporters at the event with signs, along with both pro-Israel and pro-Palestine protestors. The event’s location outside of the 72nd Street subway station also left many tourists, or those who appeared to be attending events at the ongoing New York Fashion Week, with a look of bewilderment as they exited the train.

Chants of “let’s go dems”, and “we’re not going back” rang out throughout the morning.

The elected officials delivered speeches on a temporary stage in front of the Giuseppe Verdi statue for more than two hours.

“This is the most important election since the 1860s, when, if Lincoln would have lost, the confederacy would have won,” Nadler said during his remarks. “Democracy is on the ballot.”

Abreu, who also spoke to the Rag, answered on the importance of hosting the rally on the Upper West Side.

“Verdi Square is a place where West Siders, elected officials, and Manhattanites come together to make sure we’re taking the message home,” Abreu told the Rag. “This is the home of the most active constituency, progressive constituency, and has among the most voter turnout in all of Congress. These are folks that can make a difference nationally.”

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