New York: More than 1000 protesters converged in midtown​ Manhattan on Monday evening, marching, chanting and waving signs before US President Donald Trump's first return 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 groups began to gather around 5Pm., 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 7:30pm, 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. 

Fifty-two-year-old Heidi Dorow 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 before joining the march though midtown.

The first time Trump visited New York City as president, in May, was brief. Then he hosted Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull aboard the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum for diplomatic talks and a gala to commemorate the World War II alliance between the US and Australia. He ended up staying only about four hours, and he never set foot inside his Manhattan home.  

The President landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport about 8.15pm on Monday. After a 20-minute Marine One helicopter flight to a landing zone near Wall Street, his motorcade whisked him to his triplex home.

Police earlier had swept in and cleared the area in front of Trump Tower, which is protected by a line of parked sand-filled sanitation department dump trucks lining the streets.

For Lori Schomp, 36, a public health graduate student at Columbia University, and until recently a Republican, Monday's protest was her first demonstration. "His statement over the weekend equating the white supremacists with the people opposed to them was the last straw," she said near the hotel. "If you're ever going to overreact against something, Nazis are a pretty good place to start."

The nighttime arrival was designed to curb the impact on rush hour traffic - a major concern for Trump, who has said one reason he's limited travel to his home city is the impact on commuters. Last week, Trump told reporters in Bedminster, New Jersey, he'd experienced how troublesome presidential visits were to the city.

"During the time that I lived in Manhattan, whenever a president came in, it was very disruptive, and I think I'm probably more disruptive than any of them," he said.

 In May, he hosted Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull aboard the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum for diplomatic talks and a gala to commemorate the World War II alliance between the U.S. and Australia.

The president is expected to return Wednesday to his Bedminster golf course to finish his two-week vacation.

Bloomberg, New York Times