We are shaking things up in Queens.
Queens Says No Kings (QSNK) is the organizer of a coalition of grassroots groups in Queens who are united in opposition to the Trump agenda and dedicated to empowering people to turn anger into action, hopelessness into purpose.
ABOUT QUEENS SAYS NO KINGS
Queens Says No Kings did not start as a brand, a nonprofit, or a plan on paper.
It started as a conversation in Queens — and a shared refusal to stay quiet.
In early 2025, members of Let’s Talk Democracy, founded by Ida Messina, were already meeting regularly to talk about what people across the borough were feeling: anger, fear, frustration — and a growing sense that the political moment demanded action, not just discussion.
During one of those conversations, longtime community organizer Sheldon Teicher raised a simple but consequential idea:
Queens should do a march.
Not a panel or a small rally, but a borough-wide march capable of bringing people together across neighborhoods, issues, and organizations.
Shortly afterward, the national NO KINGS date — June 14 — was announced.
That announcement didn’t create the idea — it gave it a frame and a moment. It made clear that Queens was not acting in isolation, but stepping into a larger national movement already taking shape.
The question for organizers became not whether to act, but how Queens would show up on June 14 — and at what scale.
FROM CONVERSATION TO THE STREET
Queens Says No Kings was launched as a coalition-led organizing effort, bringing together grassroots groups, neighborhood organizers, issue-based organizations, artists, and volunteers from across Queens.
The result was the Queens Says No Kings March on June 14, 2025 — a borough-wide mobilization that marched from MacDonald Park in Forest Hills to the Queens County Courthouse in Kew Gardens.
Thousands of people filled the park, lined the route, and arrived together at the courthouse in what became one of the largest marches ever held in Queens.
It was a visible statement: Queens was organized, connected, and ready to act as part of something larger.
OCTOBER 18: CONTINUITY AND SCALE
The June march was not a one-off.
On October 18, 2025, Queens Says No Kings organized a second borough-wide march — larger, more complex, and more deeply coordinated than the first. More organizations participated, more neighborhoods were represented, and more volunteers stepped into roles that kept the day running.
By October 18, Queens Says No Kings was no longer just turning people out — it was coordinating outreach, marshals, speakers, art builds, and logistics across dozens of groups and communities.
The work was shared.
The leadership was distributed.
The coalition held.
BUILDING ORGANIZING INFRASTRUCTURE
Queens Says No Kings has always been about more than marches alone.
In August 2025, the coalition convened an Activism and Organizing Summit at Astoria World Manor, bringing together 32 grassroots and community organizations from across Queens — now 33 and growing.
The purpose was straightforward:
- help groups find one another
- share skills and resources
- reduce duplication
- strengthen coordination and turnout
- build working relationships across movements
Queens Says No Kings exists to connect, not compete.
OUR MISSION
Queens Says No Kings (QSNK) is a coalition of grassroots groups in Queens who are united in opposition to the Trump agenda and dedicated to empowering people to turn anger into action and hopelessness into purpose.
That mission is practical, not rhetorical — grounded in real organizing, real relationships, and real work in Queens.
WHAT QSNK IS TODAY
Today, Queens Says No Kings operates as a coalition hub for Queens-based organizing.
We coordinate large public actions, support partner groups with outreach and visibility, and create space for collaboration across neighborhoods, issues, and communities.
Everything we do is Queens-led and coalition-driven.
WHY QUEENS
Queens is the most diverse urban area in the country. Organizing here requires coalition, not ego — and trust built through shared work, not one-off moments.
Queens Says No Kings exists to make collective action possible at the scale this moment demands.
And we’ve already shown what happens when Queens shows up together.