Activists and community leaders on the Lower East Side came together to rally against plans to build a new high rise apartment building in their neighborhood.
Demonstrators called for developer Extell's planned residential tower on Cherry Street to be blocked.
They say the building doesn't reflect the needs of the community's poor.
"Are we living in America, or are we still in slavery? I don't think it's fair to the people who have kept this Lower East Side intact, for it to grow to the level that it's growing, and now they want to push us out. It's unfair to the low income families that have been pushed out," said one protester.
City officials say the developer doesn't need any further zoning approval for the building.
They say the protest groups haven't contacted them.
Extell has cut the original height of the tower from over 70 stories down to 56.