15,000-20,000 people are suspected to march for Bernie today, starting at 1:00 pm.
The event is organized by People for Bernie and will lead all the way from Foley Square over Lafayette Street to Union Square.
The warm up rally at Foley Park is already under way, and the Berners are showing off their creativity in colorful signs.
On Saturday, I checked out what the People for Bernie are up to. The grassroots group works enthusiastically to get Bernie Sanders elected as president, but has no official affiliation with his campaign.
Back in January they hosted the first “March For Bernie” in New York, and now they are busy preparing for another one – on March 16, three days before the NY primary.
Over 15,000 people are expected to come to the rally on Saturday, so I was surprised to see that only about 20 people showed up for the last meeting before the march.
But in today’s internet-world, much of the actual organizing happens online anyway. Which might explain why the session felt more like a motivated support group than a dry planning meeting – a round of “Hi, my name is…” and spontaneous applause inclusive.
The rest of the afternoon was spent discussing the route of the march (from Foley Sq to Union Sq), the role of marshals and the ongoing “Art Build” events, where volunteers create signs to hand out on Saturday.
The psyched Berners are hoping that the energy of the rally will raise through the city and result in a ten to 15 percent jump in Tuesday’s primary.
“Let’s make some heroes and take New York,” said Mindy Rosier, a teacher who was leading the meeting.
Over a thousand people assembled in Manhattan for the March For Bernie last Saturday. The event was organized by Millennials For Bernie and drew a wide range of supporters – from college students to seniors and from Democratic Socialist to animal rights activists.
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