Celebrities, Long Islanders march in Manhattan for climate change action

Demonstrators waving banners calling for "climate justice" and singing "Power to the People" lined up in Manhattan yesterday morning for an event billed as the largest climate change march in history, with nearly 2,700 corresponding events organized in more than 150 countries around the world.

The People's Climate March drew more than 310,000 activists as it proceeded from the Upper West Side to midtown, according to organizers.

Mayor Bill de Blasio and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon were among the high-profile attendees along with former Vice President Al Gore, and actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo.

The march preceded a climate summit at the UN on Tuesday to be attended by President Barack Obama. A structure for a possible agreement on globally addressing climate change is expected to be discussed.

Marchers from around the world carried banners Sunday with slogans such as "save the earth, eliminate capitalism." Many called for action -- not just promises -- from elected officials to curb global warming and other threats.

"Pledges do nothing until they are turned into reality," said Desmond D'Sa, 56, of Durban, in drought-stricken South Africa. "Actions speak much louder."

De Blasio yesterday morning announced that New York City has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent over 2005 levels by 2050, adding that it is the largest city to adopt the 80-by-50 standard.

"Acting now is nothing short of a moral imperative," he said in a statement.

Several dozen people from the Nassau County People's Climate March attended the event after launching a social media campaign to urge Long Islanders to participate.

"Climate change has always been an abstract concept. But when you see it come to your front door you, really begin to wake up," William Biamonte, 55, of Oceanside said, referring to superstorm Sandy.

He said climate change "goes to the heart of what a suburban voter cares about -- their pocketbook and their property values."

Ruffalo said in an interview that the march will show "the will of the people."

"We are here to say there are other ways to move forward without burning fossil fuels," he said. "When they [elected officials] don't answer this will of the people, we will remove them or go around them. That is the message today."

Fourth-generation Long Beach resident Dan Lamparter, 28, said he and his parents lost their basement belongings in Sandy and were left wading through six inches of water on the first floor. The family has lived in the home with only one functional sink and a convection oven.

"This is my home. This is where my family has always lived, and we want to stay," said Lamparter, adding that he hoped the march showed government leaders that people are serious.

Alan Jasper, 69, of Merrick, said he was evacuated from his single-story ranch home after Sandy flooded it with three feet of water. He had lived there about one block from a canal for 31 years.

"This can happen again," said Jasper, a retired New York City schoolteacher and community improvement chairman of the South Merrick Community Civic Association. "This is important because it has affected a lot of people on Long Island and the Rockaways. There are things that need to be done to build [resilience] against climate change."

Nassau County Legis. Laura Curran (D-Baldwin), whose South Shore district includes Baldwin and Freeport, proposed making communities more walkable, preserving wetlands and promoting more public transportation such as a "north-south railway on Long Island" to combat climate change.

"The hope today is that climate change is reversible," she said. "We have the intelligence, the technology, now all it takes is the money and the will."

With Maria Alvarez,

Ivan Pereira and

Lauren R. Harrison