NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – The NYPD arrested a large number of climate protesters near Wall Street on Monday as they took part in a mass act of civil disobedience and called for an end to fossil fuels.
In total, at least 114 people were arrested at the protest, according to police.
Many protesters were arrested while blocking an employee entrance to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, near Maiden Lane and William Street in the Financial District.
Police told the protesters to move along, but they refused, and large numbers were taken away in plastic handcuffs and loaded into multiple police vans. The mass arrest was billed as the largest act of civil disobedience during this week's U.N. General Assembly.
Hundreds of demonstrators clogged the narrow streets of Lower Manhattan for Monday's protest, which came a day after some 75,000 people marched in the city on Sunday, according to estimates by organizers.
Monday's protest began at Zuccotti Park, made famous as the hub of the "Occupy Wall Street" protests in 2011. Protesters attempted to march on Wall Street itself but were kept away by NYPD officers.
As they awaited a trip to central booking, the detained protesters—who came from as far away as California, Texas and Ohio—said they were willing to be arrested to draw attention to the threats posed by climate change and what they say is an inaction by elected leaders and businesses.
Among the leaders at the U.N. headquarters this week will be President Joe Biden, who protesters criticized for approving fossil fuel projects.
"Fossil fuels have got to go!" demonstrators chanted outside of the Federal Reserve Bank as they were taken into custody. The protest continued into the afternoon on the first day of the General Assembly.