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Clarkstown Assures Residents That There Is No Plan To Infringe On Protesters’ Rights At Iconic Location
By Tina Traster
Despite attempts to walk back comments on restricting free speech and assembly at the Four Corners in Nanuet prior to Monday night’s Clarkstown town board meeting, more than 250 residents turned out to register complaints that the germ of the idea had ever been propagated in the first place.
Speakers shared impassioned thoughts on the significance of the constitutional rights passed down by our forefathers 250 years ago. They reminded Clarkstown’s board, particularly Town Supervisor George Hoehmann and Councilman Don Franchino, of the sacrifices people have made through the course of history to protect our unique American experiment.
While Hoehmann continued to maintain the pretense that safety at the Four Corners is an issue – and that was only ever the issue – he repeatedly said throughout the meeting, “There is no plan. There was never a plan.” Several residents let the Supervisor know he had squandered their trust before and they were skeptical about relying on his assurances now.
They spoke sincerely about long-held beliefs that their rights to protest and assemble at the iconic location where people have gathered for 60 years would never be imperiled. Some of the comments were tied to the suppression of First Amendment rights playing out at the national level. A handful of speakers asked Hoehmann if he was taking his cues from Congressman Mike Lawler or the Trump administration.
Hoehmann vehemently denied that any impulse to examine circumstances around the protests stemmed from higher up. He polled the rest of the board on the same question to which all answered “no.”
Residents who gathered in the chamber expected the board to hear public comments after two previously scheduled public hearings on land-use issues. Instead Hoehmann turned a resolution item on the agenda into an unscheduled hour-long public hearing. Following the unscheduled public hearing, the board then adopted 40 resolutions before allowing public comment. Some residents left, but many persevered until 11 pm because they wanted to be heard.
Some speakers went as far as to “warn” the council that they would not be cowed, that they would continue to protest and exercise their First Amendment rights.
Clarkstown resident Steve Levine spoke emotionally about his Jewish forebears who fought against fascism in Nazi Germany. Visibly shaken, he shared anecdotes about his grandmother living under authoritarian regimes where the rules and laws were changed arbitrarily. Had his grandparents not emigrated to America for a better life, he would not be here. He said, “They saw the horrors. It was a slippery slope, that they never thought it could happen in Germany.” He added that this is not a Conservative, Democrat or Republican issue – it is an American issue.
Angry and frightened Americans have been gathering at large protests since the beginning of Trump’s second administration. Indivisible, a grass roots group facilitating the Hands Off and No Kings protests, have worked cooperatively with the Clarkstown police and local businesses in the Route 59 corridor to mitigate disturbances. These protests have ballooned to thousands of people on Saturdays between noon and 2:00pm.
Hoehmann had previously floated the idea of holding protests on Sundays between 8 and 10 am, or to move them to a more obscure site. But the Four Corners has always served as an effective gathering place because of its high visibility and accessibility.
“We protest because we care deeply about what is going wrong in this country,” said Suzanne Barclay. “We’re concerned about defunding USAID and SNAP and letting people go hungry. We’re concerned about people being ‘disappeared’ by ICE with no semblance of due process. We’re concerned about tactics to make voting more difficult and elections less secure. We’re concerned that cuts to universities and research institutions have summarily ended medical, climate, agriculture and other research. We’re concerned that cuts to Medicaid will reduce people’s ability to see a doctor and get care. We’re concerned about federal troops deployed to cities. And the cancelation of naturalization events right here in Rockland County.”
South Nyack resident Mark Dery took aim at Franchino for seemingly “smiling or smirking,” during the meeting, adding that the councilman had either knowingly or ignorantly been spreading disinformation. He challenged Franchino’s representation that paying Clarkstown Police overtime for the protests cost $38,000 per day. He requested the council censure Franchino.
Another resident who filed a FOIL request on Nov. 20 with the police department shared the correct information: the October 18 protest, which required 10 officers, cost the town $6,235 in overtime. The three major protests added up to about $11,000, a fraction of the total reported by town officials.
Public officials from at least two other municipalities registered their displeasure at Clarkstown’s attempt to curtail free speech. Addressing Hoehmann, Village of Haverstraw Trustee Richard Sena said, “We don’t share policies but I’ve always respected you.” But then switched gears, and said, “No one trusts you in this room. I’m very disappointed.”
Pascale Jean-Gilles, an Indivisible organizer and Village of Nyack Trustee, emphasized that the group has worked with the police to keep the protests peaceful. She called out efforts to undermine protests at the Four Corners as government overreach.
Clarkstown resident Mark Pessin said he’s known Hoehmann for a long time and hopes that the public official “still believes in democracy.” He added, “I’m going to protect my rights where and when I want. No one can take that away.”
Residents made it clear that they were not present to ask for the right to protest at the Four Corners but rather to educate Clarkstown officials on their constitutional rights. Referring to the impact of government oppression, Pessin warned that cracking down on free speech and the right to assemble would elicit “an equal and opposite reaction.”
