Over 27,000 attend Bernie Sanders rally in New York

Around 1,300 came to Hillary Clinton’s rally

NEW YORK — Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton staged dueling New York City rallies on Wednesday ahead of the state’s pivotal presidential primary.

While Clinton’s rally saw 1,300 in attendance, over 27,000 filled Washington Square to hear Sanders speak – one of his largest gatherings.

“When I look at an unbelievable crowd like this I believe we’re going to win here in New York,” Sanders declared in front of the iconic Washington Square Arch in the city’s Greenwich Village neighborhood.

 

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Scheduled speakers included Spike Lee, Rosario Dawson, Linda Sarsour, Tim Robbins, and Graham Nash.

During his speech, Sanders said he would take on Wall Street and break up the biggest banks. He questioned whether Clinton would stand up to those who have bankrolled her campaign with $15 million in Wall Street conations to her super PAC and millions more in lucrative speaking fees for speeches to Goldman Sachs and others after she stepped down as secretary of state.

“She should release the transcripts,” Sanders said.

Clinton spoke at a Bronx community center, and focused instead on Republican rivals Donald Trump and Ted Cruz.

“Mr. Trump wants to set Americans against each other. He wants us to build walls, I want us to build bridges,” Clinton said. Referencing Cruz’s earlier criticism of “New York values,” Clinton said, “I think New York values are at the core of American values.”

The rallies set the stage for a high-stakes Brooklyn debate Thursday night and capped a day in which both candidates courted organized labor.

Sanders picked up support from the local transit workers union and walked a picket line with striking Verizon workers.

Clinton also walked a picket line in solidarity with the Verizon workers and addressed the National Action Network, led by the Rev. Al Sharpton.

New York City offers by far the largest bloc of votes in next Tuesday’s primary, and campaign officials estimate it could account for about 70 percent of the state vote. 

Polls have shown Clinton with a lead against Sanders.

But Sanders noted that the primary does not allow independents to participate or feature same-day registration. And, he added defiantly, “I think we’ve got a surprise for the establishment.”

As Clinton dug into campaigning in her adopted home state, Sanders prepared to fly to Rome for a 10-minute speaking slot Friday at a Vatican conference on social and economic trends. He’s expected to head overseas just after the pair debate Thursday night.

His comments in Rome would dovetail with his campaign push for economic equality and come ahead of critical primaries in states with large Roman Catholic populations: New York on Tuesday and Rhode Island and Connecticut a week later.

“What I’m planning to say is that it is not acceptable from a moral perspective, from an economic perspective or from an environmental perspective, that so few have so much and that greed is running as rampant as it is throughout the entire planet,” Sanders said in a phone interview with The Associated Press.

Clinton was heading to California on a fundraising swing with weekend events planned with actor George Clooney.