NEW YORK — As protesters flooded New York City’s Billionaires’ Row, employees pressed against the windows above, watching as the streets cried for justice.
Among the thousands were the faces of the climate action group Extinction Rebellion Boston, with their hourglass flags flying in all directions and colors.
The “Make Billionaires Pay” march fought for climate justice and against the billionaire class on Sept. 20, the eve of Climate Week NYC and the United Nations General Assembly meetings. Marchers demanded a “better future for our communities and for all living beings,” according to their website.
XR Boston members Julia Hansen and her daughter Amalia are not first timers when it comes to protests.
Julia Hansen has taken her daughter along to various XR Boston events, exposing her early to activism and the community that comes with it. During the “Make Billionaires Pay” march, Amalia gazed up at XR’s colorful flags or, at times, slept while cradled in her mother’s arms.
“It takes a lot of love and care and attention in order to make that happen,” Julia Hansen said. “I’m here with my mom. I’m here with friends, and they make it possible for me to feel supported.”
In New York City alone, thousands marched, according to NBC News. The protest spanned hundreds of cities nationwide.
“We aren’t just our small group swimming in a big empty ocean, but we are in a sea of other people who also have these values and also are willing to do something about it,” said Jamie McGonagill, media and messaging coordinator of XR Boston.
“Make Billionaires Pay” was part of a series of international rallies for climate justice happening Sept. 19 to 21. The series, titled “Draw the Line,” aims to maintain climate activism momentum ahead of the UN Climate Summit in Brazil taking place from Nov. 10-21.
Protesters carried signs reading, “Billionaires owe the earth,” “The wrong ICE is melting” and “I miss democracy.” The New York Police Department kept the march to one side of the road, while drivers honked their horns and waved to the crowd in solidarity.
Protestors held a 160-foot-wide “climate polluters bill,” confronting the economic damage that carbon emission polluters cause by exacerbating extreme weather events.
But the march called for more than climate justice. Protestors made demands for free speech, a crackdown on the Trump administration’s immigration policy, a ceasefire in Gaza and gender equality — linking all issues back to the billionaires who influence those policies.
“‘Make Billionaires Pay’ is like where your lane merges onto an eight-lane highway,” said Miranda Dotson, part of the XR Boston community since 2023. “Billionaires are profiteering off of genocide. They are profiteering off of climate change, off of the fossil fuel industry. They’re profiteering off of redlining and segregation.”
Beginning on Park Avenue, the marchers passed headquarters for the investment management company Blackstone before turning onto 57th Street to reach Trump Tower. Participants recited several chants, including, “Hey hey, ho ho, billionaires have got to go,” and “Tax the rich.”
NYPD cut protestors off from continuing on into Central Park, and the rally closed with a moment of silence in front of the Trump International Hotel and Tower.
Then, members of BAMN — a coalition to combat facism “by any means necessary,” according to its website — climbed a crosswalk light and began addressing the crowd through a megaphone, urging them not to let NYPD disperse the demonstration.
“We were told to stay silent and to wait for people to go, and that is not a democratic way to hold a demonstration,” one of the BAMN speakers said.
Three friends from the XR Boston Allston affinity group, Tatiana Kiss-Coviello, Tayler Sylvester and Steph King, all commented on the strong community they feel from XR Boston.
“It’s a really good kind of energy to have everybody bonding and just being around so many people who are chanting the same thing,” Kiss-Coviello said.
McGonagill, XR Boston’s media coordinator, said she often jokes that “everyone in XR Boston is either related, married or lives together.”
During one protest a couple years ago, McGonagill’s brother, brother-in-law, roommates and best friends were all arrested the same day.
“It was a really stark reminder of how this has become my community,” she said.
XR Boston member Harley Takagi Kaner said XR Boston motivates him to keep showing up for the climate even when he feels discouraged, because he has people to “share the burden.”
Despite feeling anxiety and “climate grief,” Kaner had never participated in activism before joining XR.
“For a long time, my reaction was just to ignore it, which I know it is for a lot of people, and to just not read the news and pretend it wasn’t happening,” he said.
XR Boston plans to continue their fight for climate justice throughout Boston.
“Success is already living in the present moment in this day of protest,” Dotson said. “We are living the future that we want and aspire to and are fighting for, right now by being here.”
