Protesters march against
Industry City rezoning, climate
change, and many other causes
Protesters took to the steets on Sept. 27 to protest the Industry City rezoning plan and its failure to address climate change. Photo by Rose Adams
A marching band brought up the rear of the march, playing protest songs
as demonstrators sang along. Photo by Rose Adams
COURIER LIFE, OCT. 4-10, 2019 3
BY ROSE ADAMS
Hundreds of activists
marched in opposition to
Industry City’s expansion
plan on Sept. 27, claiming
the development would exacerbate
a wide range of
social and environmental
issues, including mass-incarceration,
the Israeli-occupation
of Palestine, and
climate change.
“We’re saying no to the
Industry City proposal because
they’re not in the business
to help the community
and be climate resilient,”
said Summer Sandoval, the
energy democracy coordinator
at a local environmental
advocacy organization
called Uprose. “We need to
move our waterfront from
what it is today into a climate
ready waterfront that
addresses climate mitigation
and resilience.”
Councilman Carlos
Menchaca in September
published a list of demands
Industry City executives
would have to meet to secure
his approval for an upzoning,
which the developers
need to pave the way for
a $1-billion, 12-year expansion
of the 35-acre waterfront
complex.
The protest followed Industry
City’s decision to bow
to those demands , marking a
necessary first step towards
the massive redevelopment
scheme’s success.
The demonstration
kicked off at 44th Street and
Fifth Avenue, where activists
did not confine themselves
to the housing issues
usually associated with the
development scheme, with
some advocates relating
Industry City’s expansion
plan to global warming
“As there continue to be
flood zone areas, higher
land property is going to go
for more value,” said Marcela
Mitaynes, a neighborhood
organizer who plans to
run for the state Assembly
in Brooklyn’s 51st District.
“And as it is, folks are having
a hard time finding decent
affordable housing. People
are getting displaced.”
Others connected the development
to mass incarceration,
deportation, and
income inequality, with
a whopping 17 advocacy
groups — including organizations
fighting for LGBTQ
representation, pro-Palestinian
rights, and prison
abolition — participating in
the event. According to one
organizer, the many causes
represented at the march
increased the turnout, and
helped educate attendees
about other issues they may
be less familiar with.
“The point that people
hopefully leave today with is
that the only way to beat the
climate catastrophe that will
kill us all if we let it is to unite
all these struggles together,”
said Jacob Friedman, an organizer
for an environmentalist
advocacy group called
Earth Strike NYC.
After a number of speakers
had addressed the massive
crowds, marchers
walked from Fourth Avenue
down to 32nd Street waving
signs that read “Climate
Justice,” “Abolish ICE,”
and “Stop capitalist pollution
with socialist revolution,”
as they sang protest
songs and chants. A marching
band equipped with
horn players and drummers
brought up the rear.
“We’re here to set the record
straight with Industry
City,” Sandoval from
Uprose said. “Just because
you’ve found a few people
in the community who you
were able to use does not
speak to what the community
wants.”