Nearly 20 people were in handcuffs by late Monday morning after climate change protesters blocked Citi’s headquarters in Lower Manhattan, police said.
Organizers said 150 activists gathered during the morning rush hour in front of the financial giant’s building on Greenwich Street near North Moore Street in TriBeCa.
According to an initial tally by the NYPD, 23 people were taken into custody.
As officers began arresting some of the protesters, the group chanted “Planet over profit!”
“Dozens of us were arrested today because we came here at the start of the summer heat,” one man said in a video posted to the X-account “Planet Over Profit.” “Citibank is funding hundreds of billions of dollars to the fossil fuel industry while putting all of our lives at risk.”
“So people have been arrested multiple times all summer long to let Citibank and Wall Street know that they can’t continue to fund destruction and death all over the world.”
Monday’s protest marked the start of the “Wall Street Hot Summer,” which organizers described as “months of relentless, disruptive protests calling for an end to Wall Street’s funding of oil, coal and gas,” according to a media alert.
Demonstrators are expected to return to the Greenwich Street tower block on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
