The way corporate institutions have been fueling the climate
crisis has to stop. So say Manhattan
protesters who marched through the city’s financial district recently as part
of #FloodWallStreet. In their desire to
disrupt businesses from going about their daily tasks, residents met up at
Battery Park, marching toward Broadway and Wall Street. They stayed there until asked to leave;
around 100 individuals were arrested.
News reports indicated that around 1,500-2,000 people took place in the
march. Traffic on Broadway came to a
standstill and three buses were trapped amidst protestors who refused to move.
Howie Hawkins of the Green Party explained that they were
protesting due to the “fossil fuels [that are] burning up the planet.” They came with huge balloons that they
bounced, to represent carbon dioxide bubbles, chanting “we can't take this
climate heat; we've got to shut down Wall Street.”
Hundreds of protesters marched through Manhattan's financial
district Monday, determined to disrupt what they call "business as
usual" in the corporate world. Many of the protesters had also taken part
in Sunday's climate march that snarled traffic throughout the city. The
demonstrators are protesting what they say is corporate and economic
institutions' role in the climate crisis. They gathered at Battery Park and
headed up Broadway towards Wall Street, where they said they planned to remain
until being forcibly removed, and said they expected to be arrested. Police
wouldn't give crowd figures but it looked about 1,500 to 2,000. "The turnout
today has been great. I'm actually surprised we've gotten this big of a
turnout. It's fantastic. We're keeping the street right now," said
protester George Machado. Their targets were Wall Street and big polluters.
"Fossil fuels is burning up the planet. So that's why we're here,"
said the Green Party's Howie Hawkins.
But after awhile it was obvious traffic on Broadway couldn't move an
inch, with at least three buses stuck in the middle of protesters who wouldn't budge.
