Protesters demonstrate against Trump at New York Republican gala

Hundreds of protesters chanted and waved signs on Thursday to voice their outrage at Republican front-runner Donald Trump outside the New York venue where he and his two rivals for the presidential nomination gathered for dueling speeches.

Inside a hotel near Grand Central Terminal, Trump, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Ohio Governor John Kasich were addressing a New York state Republican Party gala as they campaign for the state's primary contest on Tuesday.

A group of the protesters stormed the mezzanine of the Grand Hyatt with a banner that read: “NYC Rejects the Party of Hate.” Eleven of them were reported arrested.

Outside the hotel, many anti-Trump demonstrators called the New York billionaire businessman a fascist or white supremacist. They even teased him about his signature hairdo.

"We Shall Over Comb," read one sign. Others said: "Deport Trump," "No allegiance for Trump," and "Black lives matter."

Trump has drawn many protests for policy positions that include building a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico, deporting 11 million illegal immigrants and banning Muslims temporarily from entering the United States.

A series of speakers addressed the protest crowd with a loudspeaker. Police set up portable barriers to keep protesters separated from traffic and allow pedestrians to pass on busy 42nd Street.

"Although Trump is from here, there is no place for him here," said one of the speakers, Nabil Hassein, 27, of the group Millions March NYC.

Kasich scored a victory with the endorsement of former New York Governor George Pataki, an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination for the Nov. 8 election.But all signs point to a Trump victory in New York, a win that would help ease the pain of a loss to Cruz in Wisconsin last week and Cruz's outmaneuvering of Trump to sweep all the Republican delegates in Colorado.

The Trump campaign got some good news when a Florida prosecutor announced that Trump's campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, would not be prosecuted on a misdemeanor battery charge involving a reporter he was accused of grabbing at an event last month.