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History of Tribeca Buildings
Neighbors and activists protest suspected ICE parking on Harrison
What looked like about 100 people including Tribeca neighbors joined a rally organized by Rise and Resist last night to protest suspected ICE parking at an Icon garage in Independence Plaza. (Thanks to C. and V. for the shots.)
People gathered on the corner of Greenwich and Harrison, chanting “Hey Icon, you can’t hide — we know you have ICE inside.” Councilmember Christopher Marte spoke, and folks carried signs that read “ICE out of Tribeca” and “ICE out of 35 Harrison” and, in the arms of a man with a priest collar, “Hail Mary, full of grace, kick ICE out of this place.”
I first got wind of the dozens of unmarked SUVs parked in the (also unmarked) Independence Plaza garage this spring (it’s actual address is 310 Greenwich). The press rep for Independence Plaza said that Icon leases and oversees all their garages. I tried emailing Icon several times to no avail. But Jerry Garolnick from Rise and Resist said in an email that their members “bottom-lining” feel 99.9 percent sure those are ICE vehicles.
Since the Nosy Neighbor post went up. Icon has covered the gaps in the roll-down grate so you can’t see inside.
Rise and Resist was formed in response to the 2016 election. They describe themselves as a “nonviolent direct action group… opposing, disrupting, and defeating any government, corporate or other act that threatens democracy, equality, and our civil liberties.”
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Watching people protest ICE in NYC while Canal Street struggles with disorder makes me shake my head.
If you believe illegal immigration contributes to the decline of neighborhoods like Canal Street, then it’s not hard to understand why many Americans support ICE enforcing existing immigration laws.
I also can’t help but wonder how many of the full-time protesters have jobs, run businesses, or pay the taxes that fund the city they’re protesting in. If they did, perhaps they’d see things differently.
That illegal immigration is the cause of neighborhood decline is not a logical conclusion. As was proved with the prior ICE raid on Canal Street, those people are not all undocumented. In fact the raid produced very few arrests.
The cause of the situation on Canal Street is much, much larger than illegal immigration, and those raids will do almost nothing to affect it.
“full-time protesters” is also an extremely broad accusation; and finally, why would where one pays taxes in this country have anything to do with the principles they are protesting? One accepts the obligation of taxation in order to have the right to protest the government’s actions. That’s fundamental.
I am a tax paying American citizen who works full time for a Fortune 100 company. I am 100% against ICE and their tactics. ICE is a true modern day American gestapo, and quite frankly embarrassing. The need for ICE would be significantly different if the long track record of incompetent congressional classes could actually develop comprehensive immigration policy. Alas, the voters continue to elect incompetence in Washington. If your biggest concern is the knockoff hawking on Canal Street, my, what a charmed life you live and perhaps an exercise in “zooming out” to see the broader picture of how we got to this place in both NYC and America is a worthwhile exercise.