Yesterday will go down in history.
Yesterday will be remembered as the moment when New York’s true majority built upon two months of momentum and brought the battle directly to our lawmakers.
We walked with our labor and community allies to deliver hundreds of vocal members of the 99% to the State Capitol to put our message directly into the hands of New York’s Governor and Senate.
Our friends from across New York State arrived on buses in droves – from Binghamton to Buffalo – to demand change to a flawed system that benefits the super wealthy, corporations, and banks at the expense of everyone else.
More specifically, we went out to draw attention to the fact that on December 31st, the current tax surcharge for individuals earning more than $200,000 a year or families earning $300,000 a year is set to end. This will amount to a $5 billion dollar loss in revenue for New York State, which is already in desperate need of money:
- School cuts have eviscerated public education and closed doors to successful futures for our kids.
- Thousands of families are being evicted from their homes.
- Senior citizens, disabled people, working families, and the sick are unable to afford health care.
- High risk homeless and low income people are not able to afford basic meals.
We also gathered in solidarity with other Occupy movements across the nation that have been facing mass arrests and extreme opposition from the 1% – cities like Oakland, Rochester, and New York.
In Lafayette Park, we converged to discuss our goals as a movement and deepen the sense of unity between everyone. Many different progressive organizations were present, from labor groups like the Public Employee Federation to Save Our SUNY, Citizen Action of New York, Push Buffalo, and Metro Justice.
After our initial rally, we marched to the Business Council of New York, just down the block from Lafayette Park. There, with hundreds of people walking down Albany’s busy Washington Avenue, waving flags, banners, signs, and chanting and using noisemakers (and the contingent of press and reporters following us), we delivered a message to acting-President Heather Briccetti and the Committee to Save New York that we would not stand idly by as they forced their self-serving agenda on us.
From there, we marched to the Capitol where we delivered petitions to Governor Cuomo and presented the People’s Resolution to the New York State Senate’s Sergeant-at-Arms. Written on a scroll much like the US Constitution, this resolution outlines why the millionaires’ surcharge should be extended. Reasons include:
- 795,000 people currently out of work in New York State
- 100,000 jobs recently being cut from the public sector
- The current 2011 budget deficit of over $350 million (with next year’s deficit projected to be $3.5 billion)
- Vast income inequality, with 67 billionaires in New York having a combined net worth of over $234.9 billion while millions of other New York residents are forced to face tax cuts and concessions
The day of action culminated with a final session of cheer, chants, support, and unity between demonstrators. Below, you’ll find a list of press from the event:
[toggle title=”Press Clips”]The Buffalo News
Capital Tonight
Politics on the Hudson
The Star Gazette
WXXI
WTEN
YNN Capital Region
The Syracuse Post-Standard
WNED
Smithtown Radio
WTEN
PBS
Troy Record
Daily Gazette (paywall)
Democrat and Chronicle
USA Today
AP
Press Connects
Times Union
Times Union
Twitter Updates
Times Union
Times Union Videos
Save Our SUNY on Capitol Tonight
CBS 6 Albany[/toggle]
We’ll update the list as we find more articles.