9/22/2014
By Ivan Pereira
Environmental activists once again took to the streets Monday, this time setting their sights on the Wall Street elite in a push for green solutions.
The demonstration, called Flood Wall Street, had a much smaller number of participants than Sunday’s People’s Climate March in Manhattan but the protesters’ voices were anything but softened one day later.
The NYPD said 100 demonstrators were arrested as of press time.
Several protesters who marched north to Wall Street and had a sit down on the streets on Broadway between Morris Street and Exchange Place were seen being escorted by cops when the police tried to break up the rally in the evening, according to witnesses on social media.
“People are trying to change things and they want to shut us down,” Kara Coulombe, 22, of Boston, told amNewYork earlier in the day.
President Barack Obama, Mayor Bill de Blasio and other world leaders will meet in New York today for a United Nations summit on climate change.
Environmental activists from around the world have been imploring officials to act aggressively to stem the tide.
The Flood Wall Street members said pressure must also be put on the corporations who aren’t investing in green initiatives while simultaneously hurting the environment with their practices.
The protesters, who brought signs and costumes and chanted during sit-down demonstrations, said their numbers showed a consensus that couldn’t be ignored.
“It’s pretty important to show we are passionate,” said Chris Grinley, 19, who came to the protest from New Hampshire.
“There are a lot of companies here that are simply not doing enough and they need to hear us.”
