NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Forty-five climate change protesters were arrested Monday after blocking traffic on the FDR Drive and West Side Highway causing major delays during Monday morning rush hour traffic, police said.
The NYPD said all northbound lanes on the FDR reopened hours, but residual delays remain.
All southbound lanes of the West Side Highway at West 34th Street reopened as authorities intervened as well.
Video from the Citizen app showed traffic on the FDR at a standstill as protesters linked to one another with pipes.
Thirty-two people were arrested on the West Side Highway and 13 were arrested on the FDR Drive, authorities said.
The Extinction Rebellion NYC group took credit for the protests on FDR Drive on Twitter Monday, urging President Joe Biden to take immediate action on climate change.
"Dear commuters: we are interrupting traffic this morning not to annoy you, but to force the public to confront the true dangers of unchecked climate change," the group tweeted. "If we do not act today, if @potus does not act today, NYC will be underwater by 2100. It's a matter of life and death."
The Sunrise Movement NYC chapter said it joined with The Extinction Rebellion NYC group and other organizations in Monday's climate action protest.
"Desperate times call for desperate measures," they tweeted. "We shut down the West Side Highway with morning with @XR_NYC, #FF_NYC, and @JFEJNYC to demand @POTUS do everything he can to keep climate in Build Back Better. Biden leads or we drown."
Biden is scheduled to arrive in New Jersey at 10:45 a.m., to promote his Build Back Better Agenda.
The Associated Press reported last week that as negotiations work its way through Congress, portions of his $3.5 trillion trillion package — including parts of his climate change agenda — could be slimmed down or eliminated.