The News from New York City

Just a quick report back from New York’s climate week and United Nations General Assembly with lots of photos and videos.

First, a little bit of context: All year we’ve been talking about how fossil fuels and tech billionaires are teaming up to promote fascism and pollution. So when we made plans to come to New York city ahead of the UNGA and climate week — two annual events that draw leaders from around the world to talk about climate change, fossil fuels, and democracy — we knew this year would be different.

That’s why, instead of (just) marching for climate justice and clean energy, as we have many times in the past, this year we named it a march to make billionaires pay. Of course we still called for climate justice and investments in clean energy and especially solar power on Sun Day, but we were clear that fossil fueled, oligarchs are to blame for the current crisis in our climate, and in our democracy. And to build the solutions we need, we need to make polluters and billionaires alike pay up for the damage they’ve already caused.

We already shared some amazing photos from the NYC March to Make Billionaires Pay and Sun Day in our earlier posts. Check those out for even more and to share on your own social media.

But for all the amazing actions over the weekend, we also knew Trump wasn’t due in New York until Tuesday, when he was scheduled to address the UN. As promised we rallied bright and early across a dozen city blocks to shut down Trump’s motorcade and disrupt his ability to claim space on the global stage. Check out some of the photos and videos below to get a feel for how it went.

The action was covered in the New York Times, on local TV, and by reporters from around the world who were there to see if Americans in New York, and elsewhere, have the chutzpah to stand up to Trump and his fossil fueled fascist. And you can make your own judgement, but I think we looked great:

In the end, 49 comrades were arrested and later released, Trump was delayed, then delayed again by a malfunctioning escalator and teleprompter. But still gave what is being called “the stupidest UN address in history” by more than one expert – including Bill Mckibben of Sun Day fame. In it Trump railed against renewable energy, praised fossil fuels, lied almost constantly about everything from electricity prices to his own polling.

But even after Tuesday, the actions were’t over! Just this morning we helped drop a banner on Third Avenue near the United Nations calling in CA Governor Gavin Newsom to stand up to fossil fuels and fascism.

The point is, there’s so much going on in the world and so many fossil fueled fascists to fight, that we know it can feel overwhelming or depressing at times. But never doubt that there are BIG groups of thoughtful and committed people out here organizing for change. We’ll see you again soon in the streets to take bold, non violent, direct action to protect our climate and communities. If you want to keep up on what we’re doing, you can follow us on social media. And if you appreciate any of the pictures and actions in this post, chip in to support our work.