Protesters Occupy Trump-Managed Central Park Ice Rink

CENTRAL PARK, NY — While many New Yorkers had Presidents Day off from work, a group of protesters pulled double duty Monday when they occupied a Central Park ice rink operated by President Donald Trump's company and unfurled a banner nearby denouncing the president's immigration policies.

Protesters from the group Rise and Resist took to the ice Monday afternoon at the Wollman Rink wearing t-shirts that spelled out "resist." As protesters skated on the crowded ice rink, another group hung a banner reading "No detentions! No deportations."

The protest was aimed at President Donald Trump and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

"We are here where Trump profits off friends, families and communities to protest this administration's attack on friends, families and communities," Rise and Resist spokesperson Carol Scott said in a statement. "We are appalled by the actions of I.C.E. and call for an end to the raids and deportations in favor of a just immigration policy."

Wollman Rink is located in the southeast portion of Central Park directly north of Sixth Avenue. When Donald Trump was just a real estate developer he entered a deal with New York City to renovate Wollman Rink in 1986. The city had closed the rink six years before to conduct what was supposed to be a two-year renovation project.

The rink re-opened in 1986 with the Trump Organization as its new manager. The organization also operates the nearby Friedsam Memorial Carousel, which recently took the president's name off its signage.

Photos by Dianne Greene Lent