Climate-change protesters stage sit-in on Wall Street

Associated Press

NEW YORK

A day after 100,000 people marched to warn that climate change is destroying the Earth, more than a thousand activists gathered Monday in lower Manhattan’s financial district, chanting, carrying signs and — in some places — sitting down in the street to protest what they said was corporate and economic institutions’ role in the climate crisis.

There were reports of some isolated arrests of protesters, who police said did not obtain a permit for the rally. But by and large, the police, office workers and tourists watched as the activists chanted: “We can’t take this climate heat; we’ve got to shut down Wall Street,” and bounced two large balloons meant to represent carbon-dioxide bubbles. Police later punctured the balloons.

Ben Shapiro, an urban farmer and bread-maker from Youngstown, said he didn’t participate in Sunday’s march but came specifically Monday because he’s concerned about fracking, a technique that cracks open rock layers to free natural gas, and he thinks the financial system enables pollution.

“I wanted to come specifically to disrupt Wall Street because it’s Wall Street that’s fueling this,” Shapiro said while sitting next to the famed bull statue on Broadway. “I’m going after the source of the problem. ... That means actively having to confront the system.”