NEW YORK — More than 1,000 protesters converged in midtown Manhattan on Monday evening, marching, chanting, and waving signs as President Trump returned to his Fifth Avenue penthouse since taking office.
The demonstrators, who lined several blocks outside Trump Tower and also gathered just south near Bryant Park, were determined to give the president a discordant welcome home. Many people said recent events that caused alarm — the deadly white nationalists’ rally in Virginia; Trump’s tepid condemnation of it; and his threats of “fire and fury’’ toward North Korea — inspired them to show up.
“Every week it’s something new,’’ said Michael Wang, a 36-year-old artist and consultant in New York who was holding a sign outside Trump Tower that read, “Nuclear war is not a ratings game.’’
The president, however, avoided the throng of protesters, with his motorcade approaching the tower from a direction away from the demonstration on Fifth Avenue, the Associated Press reported.
Onlookers who did see the motorcade greeted it with cellphone cameras and a few obscene gestures.
By the tower, some protesters carried signs with such messages as ‘‘impeach’’ and ‘‘the White House is no place for white supremacy’’ as chants including ‘‘love, not hate — that’s what makes America great’’ and ‘‘New York hates you!’’ echoed off the surrounding buildings. Nearby, an inflatable, rat-like caricature of Trump stood by The Plaza hotel.
A few Trump supporters had also gathered.
The groups began to gather around 5 p.m., filling sidewalks and disrupting normal traffic near Trump Tower, erupting at times into clashes with police officers. Dozens of officers formed a single-file wall outside Trump Tower, and some unruly protesters were yanked from the crowd. By 7:30 p.m., two demonstrators had been arrested, police said. Details about the episodes were not available.
At the same time, another demonstration began, as several hundred people began to snake their way from the New York Public Library near Bryant Park to Columbus Circle, before joining the other group on Fifth Avenue. Trump was expected to arrive at Trump Tower shortly after 9 p.m.
Heidi Dorow, a 52-year-old grant maker, said that Monday’s protest carried more importance after the unrest in Virginia over the weekend.
“It’s important in these moments for white people to make a public stance against racism, against white supremacy, and be public and vocal about that,’’ Dorow said.
The first time Trump visited New York City as president, in May, was brief. He ended up staying only about four hours, and he never set foot inside his Manhattan home.
Protests were held in other parts of the country as well. A crowd in Durham, N.C., used a rope to topple a statue of a Confederate soldier outside a courthouse. Seconds after the monument fell, protesters — some white, some black — began kicking the crumpled bronze monument as dozens cheered and chanted.
