Gothamist

A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.

Gothamist

WNYC Listen Live

Donate

News

Anti-IDC Protest Targets Jesse Hamilton Office As Pressure On Rogue Caucus Grows

Jake Offenhartz

Published Feb 11, 2017

Modified Feb 11, 2017

FacebookTwitterRedditEmail

Never miss a story

Email address

By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .

Jake Offenhartz/Gothamist

View all 7

Jake Offenhartz

Published Feb 11, 2017

Modified Feb 11, 2017

FacebookTwitterRedditEmail

We rely on your support to make local news available to all

Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

A crowd of nearly 100 New Yorkers gathered outside the Crown Heights office of State Senator Jesse Hamilton Friday to demand that he withdraw from the Independent Democratic Conference, a group of eight rogue Democrats who caucus with Senate Republicans.

Huddled close in the frigid weather, the protesters chanted "Shut down the IDC/Democrat majority" while educating confused passers-by about the complex inner-workings of Albany politics.

"This is just the beginning of a sustained calling out and shining a harsh light on what the bland-sounding IDC really stands for," said Tim Murphy, a journalist and activist. "It stands for blocking progressive change for their own selfish, power-brokering interests."

Though Hamilton typically meets with constituents on Friday afternoon, the senator's office announced on Wednesday night that he'd be spending Friday delivering Valentine's Day cards—a move many interpreted as intentional evasion. "The target of the protest is too scared to be here and actually listen to constituents who voted for him," said Murphy, to loud cheers. Hamilton's office did not immediately respond to Gothamist's request for comment.

Friday's demonstration was the latest event in what's become a burgeoning grassroots movement to push the IDC members back into caucusing with mainline Democrats. During a raucous town hall meeting in Jackson Heights last week, hundreds of protesters confronted Senator Jose Peralta about his surprise defection to the IDC, accusing him of quietly betraying the progressive platform on which he ran. At the town hall, Peralta spoke at length about the ineffectiveness of the Senate Democrats, and accused them of provoking the protests.

In recent weeks, the IDC, which now counts eight members and has served as a bulwark for the Republican majority in Albany, has come under intense scrutiny from activists seeking progressive policy changes on the state level.

"I take for granted that New York City is this safe, progressive place, but progressivism is fragile," said Patrick Horrigan, an East Village resident who said he only became aware of the IDC last month. "Now, I just feel like it's so important that we in this country try to create strongholds that can resist the Trump administration."

Lizzie Scott, a Crown Heights resident who voted for Hamilton in the most recent election, said she has been following the IDC for some time, but was only recently driven to take action. "I've been working with a lot of other public school parents organizing against Betsy DeVos, and so now that whole fight is going to have to shift to the state level," Scott said. "With Hamilton in the IDC—vouchers and privatization, they'll be supporting all of that. And we really need to be protecting public schools at the state level." (Hamilton has been vocal in his support for public schools, though state Republicans have long pushed for forms of privatization.)

According to Harris Doran, a Washington Heights-based organizer with Rise & Resist, one of the groups that organized the protest, another demonstration will take place in two weeks at the Bayside office of state Senator Tony Avella, who began caucusing with the Republicans in 2014. Doran expects that all eight IDC members will face similar opposition in the coming months, and that the protests will only grow as more people learn about the IDC’s power-sharing arrangement with the GOP. Already, he said, Rise & Resist is in talks with potential primary challengers for Democrats who refuse to leave the IDC.

"We need a majority and we're no longer waiting around for someone else to do it," Doran said. "Just like all across the country, New Yorkers are taking back our state."

Tagged

IDC

Jesse hamilton

protest

sunset park

original

Jake Offenhartz

Jake Offenhartz is a former Gothamist reporter.

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

MORE news

2 men accused of stabbing off-duty NYPD detective in the Bronx plead not guilty

Sneider Mejia and D’Angelo Caraballo are both facing several charges, including attempted first-degree murder.

Charles Lane

and

Brittany Kriegstein

Published Oct 14, 2026 at 2:40 p.m. ET

Man who pushed his baby and her mother from a Bronx balcony arraigned from psych ward

Angel Carrasco, who shoved his infant daughter and her mother from a 15th floor balcony, appeared virtually in Bronx criminal court.

Brittany Kriegstein

News

Man who pushed his baby and her mother from a Bronx balcony arraigned from psych ward

Angel Carrasco, who shoved his infant daughter and her mother from a 15th floor balcony, appeared virtually in Bronx criminal court.

Brittany Kriegstein

NYC looks to grow involvement in Open Streets as applications open for 2027

Catalina Gonella

New Yorkers are paying $300 million for natural gas they don't even use

Rosemary Misdary

Early Addition: Eric Adams did not convince a Wisconsin town to build a data center

James Ramsay

Never miss a story

Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.

Sign upEmail address

By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .