SYRACUSE, N.Y. — On Friday, Syracuse was two cities at once.
In Clinton Square, thousands of people packed shoulder to shoulder, holding signs against the president. Less than a mile away, inside the OnCenter, a smaller crowd filed in to hear him speak.
It was President Donald Trump's first visit to Syracuse since taking office, campaigning for Republicans across New York state as the midterms approach.
Using photographs and the Jacobs method of crowd measurement, WAER estimates 2,500 to 3,000 people filled Clinton Square. About three-quarters as many attended the rally.
Korinne Cuffe brought her three children to their first protest.
“It felt really important for us all to be here together,” Cuffe said. “Having really important conversations with my kids at a very young age to stand up for themselves and defend what they think is right is very important to me.”
Her eldest, Zoe, said the crowd made her proud.
“Everyone was here and everyone expected the same thing to happen,” Zoe Cuffe said. “I love the signs.”
One of those signs belonged to Lindsay Bower. It featured Otto the Orange, Syracuse University’s mascot.
“Syracuse only has room for one orange,” Bower said. “We’re the orange. That’s our city, the Syracuse orange. And Donald Trump, you may have noticed, is a little orange.”
Eight-tenths of a mile away from the protest, GOP supporters filed into the OnCenter as local Republican candidates warmed up the crowd.
Kailee Buller is running against Democrat John Mannion in New York's 22nd District. Anthony Constantino is challenging Democrat Blake Gendebien in the 21st. Every speaker kept the focus awaiting the arrival of two men: President Trump and Bruce Blakeman, the Republican running to unseat Governor Kathy Hochul.
“Having President Trump here is an honor, and we figured we’d support that any way we can,” rally volunteer Kent Doctor said, wearing a Team USA hockey jersey, “Always having a president, it doesn’t matter which party it is, I feel it is an honor for the city that he’s visiting.”
Elizabeth DeFrancisco drove more than five hours from Long Island to support a Republican agenda.
“It’s about time New York State turns red. Only red,” DeFrancisco said. “I’m an angry person. I don’t want our country to turn socialist, and Kathy Hochul supports a socialist agenda.”
Hochul’s record leans moderate Democrat. On the GOP stage Friday night, her opponent, Bruce Blakeman, made a promise to the crowd.
“On January first, when I am sworn in as governor, I will have waiting on my desk an executive order that says New York will no longer be a sanctuary state,” Blakeman said.
Many at the OnCenter, like Ron Terry, offered opinions on New Yorkers’ chief concern: affordability.
“There’s no such thing as affordability. You make your own,” Terry said. “You make your own bed. You have to lay in it every night. And so this stuff about affordability, I make my own destiny.”
The U.S. Census Bureau ranks Syracuse fourth in the nation for child poverty. The city’s poorest neighborhood is two blocks from the GOP rally.
It is a point of contention for Mayor Sharon Owens, who has fought to restore federal funding for families in poverty.
“I don’t agree with removing SNAP benefits from people who need food security,” Owens said. “I don’t agree with the methods for immigration reform. I believe that there is a process that needs to be improved, but the way it’s going now is not protecting us, it’s harming us.”
Trump’s arrival drew about 1,000 of the Clinton Square protesters to march toward the OnCenter. CNY Solidarity organizer Robert MaClean said the march grew unexpectedly.
“People are coming out of restaurants. They’re saying, ‘Are you marching down to the OnCenter?’ And they’re joining us,” MaClean said.
After walking a mile across the city, the marchers’ chants grew agitated. A barricade of police met them outside as Trump took the stage inside.
“Well, a very, very special hello to Syracuse,” Trump told the crowd.
But shortly after the president began his speech, the passionate but peaceful crowd faded to a few hecklers.
Ki-Yaisa Barner, a student interested in political science, used the moment to hear what both sides had to say.
“I’m here to see what the opposite side looks like,” Barner said. “You have to look outside and see how everybody around you views, or else you won’t go anywhere. You can’t get anywhere just by being in one little box.”
