Several protest groups blocked traffic on Tuesday to prevent dignitaries, including President Trump, from entering the United Nations General Assembly on the first day of the 80th meeting of global heads of state.
Organizations such as Extinction Rebellion, Climate Defenders, Rise and Resist, and more sought to disrupt global leaders heading to the UN headquarters at the corner of East 42nd Street and 1st Avenue.
The protest began near the New York Public Library at 42nd Street and 5th Avenue. The crowd got no closer to the UN than the corner of East 42nd Street and 2nd Avenue, where dozens of demonstrators were handcuffed for blocking the roadway.
The NYPD and its law enforcement partners have closed streets near and leading to the UN amid heightened security, especially with President Trump being in town.
Another group of protesters then headed up to East 46th Street and 3rd Avenue, a main access point for dignitaries heading to the UN.
There, this group unfurled a gigantic banner reading “The world deserves better” while they chanted “How many will you kill if you drill, baby drill?” The group called out Trump specifically, charging that his policies are causing irreparable harm to the planet.
“Our leaders are meeting at the UN while the planet burns—and doing nothing to stop it,” Matthew Menzies, a member of Extinction Rebellion NY said. “Donald Trump represents a billionaire regime funded by fossil fuels, making decisions that endanger every living being. We are blocking traffic because business as usual must stop—literally.”
The display only added to the frustration of Manhattan motorists during one of the worst gridlock weeks of the year.
Irate drivers honked their horns, yelled obscenities, and even left their cars and rested their heads in their hands in dismay after Midtown traffic came to a screeching halt. The gridlock persisted for over 20 minutes until the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group began making arrests with flex cuffs in hand.
Cops took 11 people into custody on 3rd Avenue while another group of more than 20 protesters were cuffed on 2nd Avenue.
“This is a tipping point—not just for the climate, but for democracy itself,” another activist said. “The same billionaires funding fossil fuels are profiting from war, from Gaza to Ukraine. They profit while we suffer. Today we are standing in their way.”
