Greenwich Village for Freedom
By J. Taylor Basker
GREENWICH VILLAGE FOR FREEDOM weekly protest, West Side Highway and Christopher Street, October, 2025. Photo by J. Taylor Basker.
In February 2025, while sitting in Westbeth Artist Housing, a month after the re-inauguration of Trump’s regime with endless executive orders, threats, unhinged rants and the reality of the demise of our democracy, I was both in a rage and a panic. Who is doing something about this? Our politicians seemed paralyzed. The Supreme Court was full of Trump flunkies. The media enjoyed seeing their ratings go up as they gleefully reported on this reality-show illusionist, sexual predator, and felon. The worse he got, the more they reported on him. Then I saw an interview on the Rachel Maddow program with the head of Indivisible, a nationwide network of protest groups designed to preserve our democracy and fight the menace of creeping totalitarianism. I looked around our neighborhood to see who was doing something but I didn’t see anything happening. So, I decided to form an Indivisible Group ─ Greenwich Village for Freedom. I posted an invite online to meet at the Bus Stop Café on Feb. 27. We had eight people show up – now we have a membership of nearly 200. We just celebrated one year of protests!
According to Parker Murff, who produces a creative monthly calendar of our events, “Greenwich Village for Freedom is founded on love ─ a love of this historic neighborhood, a love of this city ─ its diversity and passion, and a love of America’s foundational promise: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Our neighbors near and far are having their lives ruined or even destroyed by draconian xenophobia, the rights of more of our neighbors are being restricted or even revoked, and every day many of us dread seeing how new turn will infringe on our community’s ability to pursue happiness.”
Jean Tucker, vestry member in St. John’s in the Village, reports that this “grassroots group organized . . . over a year ago, has planned public actions every month since. Its members — an exuberant, eclectic, and largely older crowd — gather weekly along the West Side Highway holding signs and making noise . . . Response by passing motorists has been overwhelmingly supportive. The group has brought joy and camaraderie to resistance.”
Karin Battin, one of my artist neighbors in Westbeth, notes that since many artists are involved there are large colorful handmade signs every week. Protestors have no concern about snow, rain, winds, or extreme cold. She often can hear the many drivers honking and appreciating our work. We have sometimes topped over 350 honks in an hour!
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We see many of the commuters returning to NJ through the Holland Tunnel on the Westside Highway. Occasionally we get cursed at and threatened i.e. “I love Trump! Go back to where you came from B….” and for me that would be Brooklyn. Surprisingly, we get many honks from Jersey dissidents, who are probably happy to see our protests as they return to their MAGA NJ communities. The big surprise was the support from truckers, whom we often assume to be pro-Trump. The good news, folks, is that they are among our most enthusiastic honkers, with very LOUD horns. We even get honks from cops driving by. This activity is a barometer of people’s outrage. Some weeks people honk repeatedly and passionately, especially when the news is worse.
We also have a monthly educational protest outside the ICE lawyers’ headquarters at the Federal Building and Court on Varick and Hudson streets. We consulted with ACLU lawyers who told us we could be arrested for protesting the ICE lawyers, but if we produced educational materials, we would be safe. So, in six different languages, we created “Know Your Rights With ICE” leaflets and legal information for ICE lawyers and staff. The idea was to pressure ICE lawyers to perform their duties and inform the ICE staff about the limits of the law. Our leaflets were enthusiastically received by pedestrians, however not by ICE employees ─ some of whom were very large and threatening as they passed by.
We now have people coming down from Harlem to join us including an army veteran, and a mix of retirees and young people. And we have FUN! It is therapy for depression over politics, it is comradeship with like-minded people, and it represents the best of what this country is supposed to do ─ protect our democracy with freedom of speech.
