More arrests after another day of Hamptons protests
Six people face charges after the New York Communities for Change blocked the entrance of the East Hampton Airport on Monday morning as part of its Tax the Rich demonstration. Credit: The East Hampton Star/Christine Sampson
Six protesters demanding higher taxes on the wealthy were arrested and charged Monday during a demonstration at East Hampton Airport in Wainscott, police said.
The rally, organized by New York Communities for Change, followed weekend protests by the group, including one Sunday where another six people were charged, according to East Hampton Town police.
On Monday, about 30 people had gathered for a protest at the airport and six were charged with either disorderly conduct or obstructing traffic, according to East Hampton Town Police Det. Sgt. Ryan Hogan. A truck with a bucket loader was brought to the scene to remove a protester perched atop a platform demonstrators had constructed, Hogan said. The platform, which was set atop three poles, was then removed.
The protesters, chanting "tax the rich" and holding pitchforks, shut down access to the airport’s parking lot for about 90 minutes, said Alice Hu, of New York Communities for Change.
The group wants to tax the wealthy to pay for action on global warming and for affordable housing programs.
“The Hamptons are a symbol of luxury, and wealth and sort of excessive consumption,” Hu said. “Our message is being sent loud and clear, that this kind of excessive wealth … is not something that we'll accept anymore.”
The group is not lobbying for a specific strategy like a wealth or capital gains tax, but the general concept of increasing taxes on the wealthy, she said.
Hu said more protests will be planned, but did not provide further details.
On Sunday in East Hampton Village, about 30 protesters associated with New York Communities for Change formed a traffic blockade on Newtown Lane, according to village police. Six were charged, police said.
The group's largest protest occurred on Saturday with a march of about 250 people on Meadow Lane in Southampton Village, a road sometimes referred to as Billionaire’s Lane. That event coincided with a separate protest at Coopers Beach in favor of free beach access for people of the Shinnecock Indian Nation.
Vera Chinese joined Newsday in 2017 after working as an editor for the East End lifestyle publication northforker and a general assignment reporter for the New York Daily News.
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