New York City
A spirited crowd marched on Billionaires’ Row in New York City April 1 to demand an end to the dictatorship of the billionaire class, for their tyranny in the U.S. and their perpetration of the genocide in Palestine and other imperialist aggression in West Asia.
April 1 demo, New York City.
Billionaires’ Row is a section of Manhattan adjacent to the southern end of Central Park. It’s the site of homes owned by the greatest concentration of billionaires — and is in the wealthiest zip code — in the United States.
The demonstration exposed the home addresses and crimes of some of the billionaires on the Row such as Bill Ackman, who called for Harvard student signatories to a letter condemning the genocide in Gaza to be exposed so that his hedge fund does not “inadvertently hire” them. Kenneth C. Griffin, another billionaire with an apartment on the row, voiced his support for Ackman’s demand.
Larry Holmes, First Secretary of Workers World Party and Sara Flounders of the International Action Center spoke to the protesters and interested passersby.
One participant was arrested without warning by the New York Police Department and released about two hours later. Co-sponsoring the demonstration along with Workers World Party were the International Action Center, December 12th Movement for Human Rights, Friends of Swazi Freedom, General Strike U.S., SUNY BDS, Students for Justice in Palestine, United National Antiwar Coalition, Chris Smalls of the Amazon Labor Union and U.S. Labor Party and Chris Silvera, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 80.
Following the demonstration, a smaller group addressed the workers and shoppers at the Whole Foods grocery store on Columbus Circle, to discuss what’s behind their exploitation by the ruling class and invite them to a meeting at the Workers World Party national office.