Overview

So why was I a moth drawn to Trump Tower and a New York City courthouse last week? Plain and simple: The attraction is the circus-like atmosphere. The spectacle.

While there are undoubtedly well-informed and sincere demonstrators on both sides of the Trump divide, a demonstration centered on the former president also brings out our era’s freaks. People who wear elaborate costumes and carry colorful signs, often filled with obscenities; people who act out in public; people who seek out the media; people who may lash out. For many of these exhibitionists, life has not unfolded as they had hoped. Some are channeling disappointment, others anger, and some both. Donald Trump gives their lives a focal point, a meaning. This is equally true for those who support and those who detest the former president.

If I were a betting man, I would wager that both sides have more in common than they would willingly admit. I stumbled onto a particularly revealing faceoff between one guy who presumably favored locking up the former president and another who wore a t-shirt emblazoned with “Arrest Fauci & Gates.” The first guy kept demanding that the other guy “Hit me in the face,” or something inanely similar. In the gap between them, I sensed a loneliness. Had these two bit players in Donald Trump’s world encountered each other in a bar without their “uniforms,” they might have shot some pool and downed a few beers. The two encapsulate the divisive malaise permeating our politics and society.

The guy who was challenged refused to take a swing. According to him, there were too many police present. What was particularly odd was that both exhibited relatively calm and polite demeanors; both exhibited an unsettling friendliness toward each other.

While the spectacle is amusing on one level, it is tragic on a much broader one. The energy generated by these spectacles becomes toxic as it is channeled into our national politics—it functions like fentanyl, destroying civil society. Take a look at the headlines: War in Ukraine; China threatening Taiwan; conflicting rulings on the abortion pill mifepristone; the racially-motivated expulsion of two Tennessee legislators from elected office; gun violence in Louisville, Kentucky that left five dead; porous borders and a failed immigration policy; powerful technology’s unbridled impact on privacy; deadly floods and tornadoes, most likely attributable to climate change; the continuing erosion of the U.S. Supreme Court’s legitimacy; and a host of other headlines rooted in seemingly insoluble problems. Yet spectacle carries the day. Trump, whether you support or detest his policy prescriptions, is not a benign amusement. We have ceased to address the problems we face as a country because of him.

Whether conservative or liberal, many who turned out on Fifth Avenue on Monday for the former president’s arrival at Trump Tower, or on Tuesday for his arraignment in lower Manhattan, are anything but serious about public policy. On signal and in unison, they repeat tired slogans and chants, devoid of any substance. The former president’s arraignment could just as easily have been a professional wrestling match, a Kiss concert, or a crosstown game between two rival teams (Yankees vs. Mets; Cubs vs. Sox). Everybody knows the formula and their role.

Over the two-day spectacle, the demonstrators were showered with the attention that they so craved. While standing in Collect Pond Park across from the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse, I estimated the pro-Trump folks numbered 300, with 200 demonstrators comprising the anti-Trump camp. After reviewing my images, I have revised those estimates downward.

Overall, the area surrounding the courthouse, including the corner of Lafayette and Worth, one block to the south, held 1,500 souls; just 300 or so were demonstrators by my revised estimate. The press—photographers, videographers, print reporters, producers, technicians and on-air personnel—well outnumbered both the demonstrators and the visible members of law enforcement.

This ratio proved problematic. It was virtually impossible to compose images without including shoulders, backpacks, handheld microphones, video rigs, lights, iPhones, and other items that either pull the viewer’s eye away from the subject, or read as undifferentiated blobs. Compounding the problem were the backgrounds, often with one or two people walking behind the subject in otherwise barren space.

While I like images of individuals, I am mindful that I also need establishing shots. Once again, the paltry numbers meant the crowd shots lacked drama and visual interest, particularly because many in the crowd had their eyes glued to their Facebook feeds while standing like grazing bovine on either side of the bicycle rack barriers separating the two camps. The many visible gaps in the crowd made my efforts even more difficult. But those gaps were there, making them part of the story.

I, however, am only a photographer. For the former president, the lackluster numbers, particularly on the pro-Trump side of the barricades, is not a positive sign, despite the pundits’ claims that his approval ratings will increase because District Attorney Alvin Bragg chose to indict him. Some attributed the pathetic pro-Trump turnout to the New York City locale—deep Blue territory—but I don’t buy it. In the 2020-election cycle, 691,682 New Yorkers voted for the former president. His support increased in parts of the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens over his 2016 numbers. Trump carried Staten Island, which is just a short ferry ride away from the courthouse. No wonder he is demanding a change in venue to that conservative enclave.

On Monday in midtown Manhattan, the police had created a pen fashioned from bicycle racks along Fifth Avenue one block south of Trump Tower between 56th and 55th Streets, which is where they channeled the pro-Trump forces. I managed to gain access to the pen, finding myself shoulder-to-shoulder with about 100 or so diehards massing on the 56th Street end of the barricades, hoping for a glimpse of their hero. Across the street, 30 or 40 photographers stood in a similar pen, many on ladders, hoping to capture with long lenses an image of the former president as he entered Trump Tower through the 56th Street-side entrance. Along the remainder of the street, 20 or so television crews lined the sidewalk, with the on-air talent positioned along the curb.

I had an identical reaction in both Midtown and at the courthouse: The media setup for the Trump events was no different than the setups I encountered last summer in Highland Park following the July 4 mass shooting and the one in Houston at the NRA convention. There is clearly a formula for 24/7 national news events. It holds the major cable networks and their viewers hostage. That formula may be one explanation for declining ratings.

All credit is due the technicians who make the tightly confined on-air talent appear as if they are in a spacious studio with the street as the backdrop. The boom mikes, multiple LED panels attached to tripods, and light modifiers are just inches from the on-air talent, but those at home have no sense of the clutter, or of the proximity of television crews from competing networks. Security guards control passersby, which keeps the scene behind the on-air talent people-free.

White trucks line the surrounding streets with satellite dishes protruding from their roofs. Several of the major networks also have larger trucks on the scene, which I assume hold makeup tables, a refrigerator with cold beverages, and a washroom for the on-air talent—no need to look for a McDonald’s.

The park across the street from the courthouse was chaotic. Whether someone saw Marjorie Taylor Greene, George Santos, or Lawrence O’Donnell was a matter of chance. There was no obvious location for speakers. When MTG showed up, I was on the opposite side of the park. By the time I ran toward her, the crowd surrounding her was at least 20 deep (a number I confirmed after looking at an overhead photograph of Collect Pond Park showing MGT surrounded). I’ve crawled through crowds that are four or five deep, but 20 deep poses an insurmountable obstacle.

George Santos showed up to little fanfare. I heard rumors that he was in the crowd, but never saw him. Maybe I was with the opposition when he walked through the park. And Lawrence O’Donnell, well he must have been pretty discreet.

Scenes Leading Up to Trump’s Arrival on Monday

When I left Chicago for New York City on Thursday, I assumed there would be no Trump-related activity during my four-day stay. Upon landing, I learned that District Attorney Alvin Bragg had a surprise for the former president—rather than waiting a month to indict, as the neworks had reported—the grand jury had handed down an indictment. I was glad I brought my gear with me.

By coincidence, due to the weather forecast, American Airlines offered me the opportunity to extend my stay without the normally hefty change fees. I immediately accepted the offer, and then booked into a hotel at the intersection of the Bowery and Chinatown—I like to stay near the event I am photographing. At a minimum, it means I have a bathroom should the need arise, but also if I am up on a higher floor, I can get some establishing shots.

Over the weekend, I returned to Trump Tower seven or eight times. The police were setting up barricades, cops took up position on every corner, and the television crews had laid claim to their turf, but there were virtually no demonstrators—I saw just one person with a sign. The sidewalk in front of Trump Tower was eerily quiet, except for Saturday afternoon when the weather was in the sixties and shoppers were out in force.

During this period, I also headed down to the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse three times. Similar goings on: the TV crews were in place; the police were strategically stationed; and barriers were already up or going up, but there were only one or two demonstrators.

[Click on an Image to Enlarge It]

Monday, April 3, 2023—Awaiting Trump’s Arrival

Sometime between Sunday afternoon and Monday morning, the New York Police Department foiled the media’s best-laid plans. The television networks had laid claim to the space directly across from Trump Tower, but when I arrived Monday morning, a row of white NYPD buses lined the west side of Fifth Avenue bumper-to-bumper across from Trump Tower, which meant that networks found themselves scrambling for choice space one-block to the south. Presumably the NYPD decided to place the buses strategically across from Trump Tower as part of its efforts to protect the former president from an assassin’s bullet or other harm had he chosen to speak outside Trump Tower.

In the 45-minutes before Trump arrived at Trump Tower, what appeared to be rerouted city buses paraded down Fifth Avenue, with two or three buses passing by during each traffic-light cycle. One member of the media yelled out, “Stop eating donuts and close Fifth Avenue.” Once again, I don’t know for sure, but I suspect this brigade of buses was designed to block the sights of anyone with a gun. The caravan of buses, which must have exceed well over 100, sure made capturing images difficult.

The sidewalk on the west side of Fifth Avenue remained opened, but the pedestrian flow was constricted to a narrow pathway between the storefronts and the pens holding the television crews who had staked out much of the sidewalk.

As for capturing an image of the former president—that was not going to happen. The photographers from the stock agencies and major media outlets had claimed the sidewalk kitty-corner from Trump Tower—Trump entered the building through a side door on 56th Street. Anyone who wanted that shot needed to be in position by 10:30 AM, or 11:00 AM at the latest. Not worth standing on a ladder for five or six hours, nor peeing into adult diapers. I hope the photographers who captured Trump’s image were well paid for their efforts. As the a helicopter hovered overhead—signaling the former president’s approach—what had been open sidewalk next to the photographers was clogged with pedestrians hoping to somehow get a glimpse of the motorcade.

April 4, 2024: The Arraignment

I was at the courthouse shortly after 8:15 AM. As I approached from the north, I encountered six or seven members of Blacks for Trump. While listening to their leader talk about the sons of Noah, I realized that this group’s support for Trump is religiously motivated.

I then walked past the courthouse. I snapped a few quick photographs, but the police did not allow anyone to linger—”Keep moving.” It was then into the Collect Pond Park, which was still sparsely populated. The day unfolded much as I expected, with the crowd reaching its peak sometime around 11:00 AM.

The police had bisected the park with two sets of bicycle racks separating the warring factions. Looking at the courthouse, the Trumpers were appropriately positioned on the right side of the park, with Trump’s opposition on the left. Throughout the morning, the two groups taunted each other. The anti-Trumpers were far more vocal than the Trumpers.

Trump arrived sometime after 2:00 PM, but once again, I did not attempt to capture his image. In fact, I had no idea that he had arrived, which suggests that the NYPD and Secret Service admirably achieved their objective.

At 2:30 PM, I walked one block south to the corner of Worth and Lafayette Streets. A fairly large contingent of anti-Trumpers occupied the southeast corner. In the middle of that group, I found a woman who was clearly a Trump supporter. She argued with everyone as they baited and laughed at her. At one point, one guy who was taunting her looked at another guy. “It’s your turn.” While the exchanges were outwardly humorous, I felt sorry for the woman who seemed emotionally unstable and highly agitated. At one point, if I recall correctly—the exchanges were somewhat disjointed—she claimed that her family roots were in Sicily and North Africa. Someone was quick to point out that Sicily is not in North Africa, but she countered that she also could trace her roots to Libya. She because particularly upset because she thought people were making fun of her origins. Eventually, she and her male companion existed the scene. At that point, I saw an anti-Semitic demonstrator, who was wearing an “I Love Jesus” cap, raising a sign calling out “Braggs’ Jews.”

I then decided to make one more pass through Collect Pond Park. I arrived as the crowd was dissipating, but I had already photographed each of the freakier participants three or four times. So I called it a day, heading back to my hotel. On the way back, I stumbled into a spacious coffee shop, where I enjoyed a ginger iced tea, a ham sandwich, and a fruit bowl while seated in a light-filled backroom that was blessedly noise-free.

Copyright 2023, Jack B. Siegel. All Rights Reserved. Do Not Alter, Copy, Display, Distribute, Download, Duplicate, or Reproduce Without the Prior Written Consent of the Copyright Holder.