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New York • Hundreds of activists protesting what they say is Wall Street's role in the climate crisis have gathered in lower Manhattan's financial district.
Scores of environmental activists dressed in blue are marching, carrying signs, chanting and sitting down on Broadway and elsewhere as workers and tourists look on.
Organizers say the protest is meant to highlight the role corporations play in stalling political action to combat global warming. It comes a day after more than 100,000 participated in the People's Climate March through Manhattan.
Participants in Monday's sit-down said they anticipate being arrested to push home their political point.
Urban farmer Ben Shapiro from Youngstown, Ohio, says he came to disrupt Wall Street and actively "confront the system."Scheduled speakers at the rally include Canadian author-activist Naomi Klein, journalist Chris Hedges and San Francisco writer Rebecca Solnit. Environmentalist, activist and author Bill McKibben also was expected.
Organizers said in a press release that the sit-in aimed to disrupt business in the financial district by targeting "corporate polluters and those profiting from the fossil fuel industry."
"Two years ago, Superstorm Sandy literally flooded New York's financial district but it didn't faze Wall Street and their drive for the short term profits that flow from the cooking of the planet," Klein said in a statement. "Which is why we're going to flood them again."
On Sunday, tens of thousands of activists participated in the People's Climate March through Manhattan warning that climate change is destroying the Earth.
Organizers said more than 100,000 participated, including actors Mark Ruffalo and Evangeline Lilly. It was one of many demonstrations around the world urging policymakers to take quick action.