NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — The NYPD arrested eight climate protesters on Thursday who were demonstrating outside an Upper East Side apartment building where the CEO of the investment firm Blackstone Group lives.
The protest was one of seven planned for this week targeting climate change-fueling financiers and demanding Gov. Kathy Hochul to tax the richest New Yorkers to fund climate policies under a Green New Deal.
Protesters from New York Communities for Change, Sunrise NYC, Extinction Rebellion and more gathered around 11 a.m. outside 740 Park Avenue, an upscale apartment building where Blackstone Group CEO Stephen Schwarzman lives.
Blackstone is an investment firm that has backed a business that has been accused of destroying the Amazon Rainforest.
Blackstone firmly denied that Hidrovias, the company accused of deforesting the Amazon, played any role in destroying the Rainforest and described reporting on the matter as a fabrication.
"Hidrovias does not own, control or have any interest — direct or indirect — in the road in question (BR-163). This road has been operated by the Brazilian government since 1976. The company did not build this highway, nor are they paving it," wrote Blackstone in a blog post rebutting the Intercept investigation into Blackstone's relationship with the company. "Hidrovias only ships from traders abiding by the Amazon Soy Moratorium, which prohibits purchasing soy produced on illegally deforested lands. The company objects to illegal deforestation and is committed to ensuring that the soy it ships is not from the Amazon biome. Hidrovias has been recognized for operating to the highest environmental and sustainability standards and they have won a number of national and international awards and certifications."
Sen. Elizabeth Warren and seven other Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to Blackstone for the it's alleged role in destroying the Amazon in 2019.
The group admitted the road is publicly owned, but said Hidrovias is not blameless in the deforestation.
“Hidrovias has consulted with and helped finance the Brazilian government’s efforts to develop and find funding mechanisms to pave BR-163, maintain the road, and reduce congestion to accelerate its shipments.”
The Private Equity Stakeholder Project, a non-profit that aims to inform stakeholders, found that Hidrovias paid for a feasibility study that "contemplates the paving of the missing mileage and the maintenance of the road" over a 10-year period.
Not only does expanding the road entail deforestation, but, because the road is a soy bean shipping lane, it empowers the expansion of soy farming, which is a major driver of deforestation in the Amazon.
Hidrovias also runs a shipping terminal to export grain and soy beans.The International Finance Corporation, a World Bank affiliate that backed the port, said, “the construction of the Miritituba port, close to still-intact areas of the Amazon forest, is likely to lower transport costs for farmers and thereby accelerate conversion of natural habitats into agricultural areas, particularly for soy production.”
So while it is true that the road in question is publicly owned, it is also the case that Hidrovias has supported and operated infrastructure that has driven the deforestation of the Amazon.
Schwarzman is also a major donor for Donald Trump and other Republicans who have worked to defang the Environmental Protection Agency and block climate legislation.
In 2020 he gave $10 million to the Senate Leadership Fund, a super-PAC tied to Sen. Mitch McConnell.
“Major corporations and property owners continue to profit from the pollution that endangers the lives of New Yorkers,” wrote the coalition in a press release. “Buildings are the top source of New York climate’s pollution. Climate activists estimate that just a 5% tax on the top 1% of earners in New York would raise $10 billion per year to fund a Green New Deal — resources that could be used to slash pollution, transition all buildings from fossil fuels to green energy, create thousands of union jobs, and construct deeply affordable, energy-efficient housing for a massive number of New Yorkers.”
Eight people were arrested in front of the building around noon, according to police, and charges are pending.
Protests organized by the same coalition of groups started on Oct. 25 and will continue until Oct. 29. The demonstrations coincide with the 10 year anniversary of Superstorm Sandy.
Other demonstrations this week target BlackRock and JP Morgan Chase, two major backers of fossil fuels that are accelerating climate change.
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