I started a political action committee, and principally what we do is anti-GOP and anti-Trump billboards. And we also do the rat. We’ve had this rat for over a year, and deployed it in several states. It’s been at the White House and Trump Hotel—we took it to Mar-a-Lago. Sometimes it’s a rat truck, sometimes it’s a rat boat, but it’s always Trump rat. It’s ironic because we created it almost a year before [Trump’s statements about Baltimore.] But, that’s Trump. The rat is the perfect message.
Astin: We’re here basically to let Trump know that we don’t agree with his policies, and we don’t agree with what he has said about our city. You look at this crowd, and there’s a mixture of every color and race and age. We have to be out here to show the fact that we’re united. As a city and as people.
Carlisle: We have to show them that it’s not okay. Not in our name. He doesn’t listen, so I don’t think he cares [about the protests.] I’m doing this for me and my grandchildren. I have to stand for what I believe even if it’s not going to make any difference today. And I will be registering voters and going to other states to do so.
I’m here to see the President of the United States come to Baltimore City. I’ve been here my whole life, and now my president’s finally coming. He opened up opportunity zones which is why he’s here today, so he can actually rebuild the worst parts of our city and make them nice again. His four tweets [about Baltimore] have cleaned our city up tremendously.
This is Cleanup Carl. He’s a superhero for democracy who is on a national tour to call out all of the country’s biggest corruptors, and there’s no bigger corruptors than Trump and GOP members of Congress. I think it’s so offensive that Trump thinks that he can tell people about Baltimore when he doesn’t know anything about this city. Baltimore has its fair share of problems, just like any city does. Baltimore is a beautiful, diverse city with so many wonderful neighborhoods and so many beautiful people and Trump doesn’t know anything about that. There’s no place for racism from Trump and the GOP in Baltimore City or anywhere else.
Many of our members recognize Baltimore City as their home. Many of them have been living here, on average, for about 15 years and they are tired of the inhumane treatment from this administration and the continued bullying. So we’re out here today with a big sign that says, “Abolish ICE” to remind the administration that this is the time to ensure that our voices are heard. I think it’s important that the president continues to see that immigrant community members are united with so many hundreds of allies behind us. We’re letting him know that this is our city, and his continued threats and attacks of panic will not defeat us here in Baltimore.
I’ve been doing almost weekly protests against the Trump administration since he became president. One of my bucket list items was to come and protest when Donald Trump is in the area. I did the Women’s March, too, in Washington, D.C., which was fabulous. It was one of the top experiences of my life. I know he was in the White House then, but today is a little more personal. I want to show my solidarity and show that Baltimore is strong and we’ll always stand up to Trump’s policies, no matter what he says about us.
Grace, left. Isabel, right. Grace: I think there’s a lot of frustration and anger with the way that things in the country are going, and it’s cathartic to go out and be with people who are also angry and frustrated and shout about it. This [poster] has made its way around a few different rallies in Baltimore. I think that in our country a lot of people like to disguise their racism as patriotism, and then when you call it out, they try to pretend that you’re ridiculous and gaslight you into thinking that it’s about loving our country and not about hating other people.
Isabel: The real question is, what parts of this country do they love and what type of America do they consider great?
The visit by the president — who maligned Baltimore as a “disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess” where “no human being would want to live” — was limited to a dinnertime speech kicking off the GOP retreat at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel in Harbor East.
Ulysses Mu?oz@y00lzAn inflatable President Trump rat sits in the parking lot at the corner of Eastern Ave. and President St., in view of the Marriott hotel where President Trump is due to speak later this evening.
In a small park a few blocks away, more than 100 protesters strongly embraced the rat motif. Signs likened the president and the GOP to rodents, and people donned masks, petted stuffed vermin, or wore them on their heads.
“Trump is the real rat!” the crowd chanted.
Evening commuters leaned on their horns in support.
One woman held a sign saying she loved her congressman, referring to Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), whose efforts to investigate the Trump White House as chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee first drew the president’s ire.
House Republicans selected Baltimore as the location for their three-day conference long before the president’s attack on the city, where Democrats outnumber Republicans 10 to 1. Well before the White House announced that Trump would attend the conference, a coalition of advocacy groups calling themselves the Baltimore Welcoming Committee had planned days of rallies to protest GOP policies on immigration, climate change and other topics. There was to be a singalong, a light show and a dance party. Organizer Sharon Black said Trump’s scheduled appearance “upped the ante.”
“This is about the remarks about Baltimore and his policies. You can’t really separate the two,” she said.
When the motorcade passed by at 6:40 p.m., onlookers on both sides of the street raised their middle fingers.
“Trump is the real rat,” they chanted.
There were counterprotesters, too. About half a dozen “Bikers for Trump” came to the waterfront area, saying they wanted to show support for the president.
“I grew up in Baltimore,” said retired construction worker Steven Imchula, 70, of Bel Air, Md. “Everything Trump said about Baltimore is true.”
Erin Cox
✔@ErinatThePost
Found a half-dozen Bikers for Trump folks here to support the president. Says one: “I’m not here to start trouble. But if I see some moron burning a flag, his a— is mine.”
Joe Murphy, a 50-year-old insurance salesman, arrived alone and unfurled a large Trump 2020 banner, prompting an onslaught of taunts from protesters. Brenton Williamson, 29, ran over to help hold the banner as police escorted them across President Street, somewhat away from the crowd.
“Look at those people,” Murphy, of Baltimore, said moments later, standing next to a 15-foot-tall rat king effigy of Trump. “They’re dressed like rats and Homer Simpson. I can’t believe they’re even allowed to vote.”
It was the first of several times officers had to intervene as Murphy tangled with critics of the president. At one point, an officer physically separated Murphy from Duane G. “Shorty” Davis, who had a rat puppet on his left hand and a papier-mâché Trump head on his right.
Police also tried to remove four women whose signs said, “No GOP racists on our streets,” from a park bench on the sidewalk. “Why do we have to go?” one said to an officer.
Asked Wednesday about Trump’s visit, Baltimore Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young (D) said, “We’re a welcoming city, and he’s welcome to be here.”
Young said that if Trump traveled beyond the Inner Harbor, he would notice “that every neighborhood is not crime-ridden and dirty.” City Council President Brandon Scott (D) said he hoped the visit would allow Trump to see some of the infrastructure challenges the city faces.
“We know he’s been touting bringing infrastructure to Americans who live across the country . . . those jobs that could be created through that would change the very neighborhoods that he was disparaging,” Scott said.
Bruce Knauff of Towson, Md., said he came to the protest because “of a general dislike of Trump, the lies, the hate, the everything.” He said rather than criticizing Baltimore, the president should do something to help the city.
Chris Tallent, 38, of Baltimore, chanted, “No racists on our streets” and said he is on a mission “to get rid of the GOP.”
Nearby, a bare-chested 28-year-old defense industry worker named Steve slid a Vladimir Putin mask off his face and, for a minute, dropped his faux Russian accent.
“Sometimes, it’s not about changing minds,” he said, declining to give his last name. “Sometimes, these protests are about trying to have fun with people who agree with you.”
This article includes material from the Associated Press.
Trump spoke at about 8 p.m. at an annual retreat of congressional Republicans, held at the Marriott Waterfront hotel in Harbor East.
He mentioned Baltimore’s “failed and corrupt” leadership, toward the end of his speech.
“We’re going to fight for the future of cities like Baltimore that have been destroyed by decades of failed and corrupt rule,” the president said.
That sentence was the only reference to the city, about a month after Trump’s criticism of U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings and reference to Baltimore as a rodent-infested mess.
He also tweeted out a photo of Pratt Street at the Harbor, saying “Hello Baltimore!” as he arrived in the city.
Most of Trump’s speech cited what he considers many of his achievements, such as measures to help veterans, improve medical care and the environment and confronting gangs. He also took jabs at many of his political opponents.
Republicans at the event generously cheered Trump’s comments, and chanted “Four more years” as he came out.
He did not take questions from reporters.
Donald J. Trump
✔@realDonaldTrump
Hello Baltimore!
Joy Lambert
✔@JoyLambert
President Trump says, “We’re gonna build that wall, it’s being built. We will have 500miles of wall built by the end of next year.. built despite the most destructive group of people I’ve ever seen.” @FOXBaltimore #baltimore
Joy Lambert
✔@JoyLambert
House Republicans chant “Four More Years” as @POTUS takes the stage in #Baltimore. @FOXBaltimore
Joy Lambert
✔@JoyLambert
#MarineOne leaving Baltimore. Where the President’s only remark on the City was calling it “failed and corrupt.” He did not allow reporters to ask questions. @FOXBaltimore
Alexa Ashwell@AlexaAshwellThe President has arrived to Baltimore. @FOXBaltimore
Joy Lambert
✔@JoyLambert
President Trump arriving in Baltimore. @FOXBaltimore @POTUS
Joy Lambert
✔@JoyLambert
The President’s motorcade passing M&T Bank Stadium and approaching Camden Yards. #Baltimore @FOXBaltimore
Joy Lambert
✔@JoyLambert
With less than 3 hours on the ground President Trump is now back on Marine One leaving Baltimore. @FOXBaltimore
Alexa Ashwell@AlexaAshwellProtesters here in Harbor East ahead of President Trump’s visit. Someone placed this large blow up rat at President and Eastern. @FOXBaltimore
Joy Lambert
✔@JoyLambert
Massive security presence outside the @Marriott Waterfront as the House Republican retreat begins in Downtown Baltimore.
President Trump will speak at dinner. @FOXBaltimore
Alexa Ashwell@AlexaAshwellMore protesters ahead of President’s visit. @FOXBaltimore
The event caused some gridlock downtown, as city officials warned drivers to avoid much of the downtown area throughout Thursday.
At least one confrontation between a supporter and protester was seen in the Harbor East area.
This is a developing story. Stay with FOX45 for updates.
Alexa Ashwell@AlexaAshwellGraphic language. Strong words between President Trump supporter and protestor. @FOXBaltimore
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — A traveling tax reform rally on a cross-country tour made an appearance in downtown Louisville.
The Tax March bus stopped outside of Metro Hall on Saturday morning as part of the “Tax The Rich National Bus Tour,” which is advocating for the repealing of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Passed in December 2017, the $1.5 trillion tax bill cut the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent.
“Regular people are getting sold out. They’re getting sold out,” Chris Tallent of MAYDAY America said. “Washington is supposed to work for everyday Americans.”
Other speakers at the rally included U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, Rev. Clark Williams of the People’s Campaign, Brent Kim and Kumar Rashad of the Jefferson County Teacher’s Association, Richard Becker of the Service Employees International Union and Sharon Fleck of Indivisible Kentucky.
Copyright 2019 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.
“As long as money is speech and bribery is legal, the voice of the people will not be heard.”
A group of activists dedicated to ending corruption in Pennsylvania politics temporarily shut down the the statehouse in Harrisburg Monday after a five-day march from Philadelphia.
Members of the MarchOnHarrisburg group staged a rally outside the statehouse before eight activists from the organization disrupted statehouse proceedings.
The group wants Pennsylvania to pass HB 1291, or Gift Ban legislation, to curtail the power and influence lobbyists have over state lawmakers.
“H.B. 1291 would make it illegal for lobbyists to bribe Pennsylvania legislators with gifts like cars, vacations, and fancy meals,” the group explained in a statement.
Pennsylvania is one of eight states that has no limit on the amount of gifts lobbyists can give legislators.
“Our legislators cannot serve both money and people,” said Rabbi Michael Pollack, the organization’s executive director. “As long as money is speech and bribery is legal, the voice of the people will not be heard.”
The activists littered the chamber with 500 one-dollar bills, chanted anti-corruption slogans, and dropped a banner from the balcony reading “Some are guilty; all are responsible.”
In all, 20 members of the group, including Pollack, were arrested—12 outside and eight inside the chamber.
Speaker Mike Turzai, a Republican, met with activists after the arrests and told them he supported the legislation.
“I’m in favor of a gift ban,” said Turzai.
In a statement, MarchOnHarrisburg communications director Emmie DiCicco said that the speaker’s support needed to be backed up by action.
“While we are pleased that Speaker Turzai publicly supports a gift ban, if H.B. 1291 does not pass into law this session, his statement would become yet another example of the hypocrisy of Harrisburg,” said DiCicco. “We want more than supportive statements; we want action.”
The group plans to continue pushing for change in the statehouse.
As big-dollar political donors recently gathered at a TriBeCa wine bar to honor one of the country’s most powerful black state lawmakers, protesters converged outside.
Waving signs and chanting, shouting to be heard in the bar’s darkened interior, they demanded an end to big money in politics. They were Democratic activists — and their target was one of their own: Carl E. Heastie, the Democratic speaker of the New York State Assembly.
But they also had to shout over the sound of counterprotesters: an equally sized group of black community leaders, who had assembled to support the speaker and denounce the activists.
The progressive movement in New York has been credited with overturning politics in Albany: The Legislature is now under Democratic control for only the third time in 50 years. But the progressive push, fueled by many newly energized activists, has also alienated some of the party’s old guard of black leaders, igniting an internal battle with racial overtones.
Black community leaders have leveled accusations of paternalism. Black lawmakers have warned of a gulf between activists’ priorities and those of their constituents. Even black activists who are part of the insurgent wing have cautioned of overreach by white progressives.
Carl E. Heastie, the first black man to hold the post of speaker of the New York State Assembly, has been accused by some Democratic activists of being slow to embrace a more progressive agenda. – Natalie Keyssar for The New York Times
“People talk about how black lives matter,” said Charlie King, a longtime Democratic operative and a former senior campaign adviser to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo. “Well, black leadership matters. If white progressives can’t respect that, they will be made to respect that.”
Since President Trump’s election in 2016, Democrats nationwide have grappled with whether a new wave of progressive energy — fueled in large part by young people and well-off white suburban women — represents black voters, the longtime pillars of the Democratic Party.
In New York, the debate has taken on particular weight. Black Democrats now lead both houses of the State Legislature, after years of Republican opposition. In the Assembly especially, black lawmakers have risen under Mr. Heastie’s leadership, as have those with ties to the Bronx County political machine that Mr. Heastie once led.
Some of those freshly cemented power brokers are now bristling at the suggestion by newly prominent activists and elected officials that they have not been progressive enough on issues like rent regulation, new taxes on the ultrawealthy and campaign finance reform.
They call such criticisms misplaced and racially charged, and they suggest that the activists do not represent the communities they claim to speak for.
“What the driving force of this movement cares about isn’t what communities of color care about,” said State Senator Brian Benjamin, a black Democrat who represents Harlem.
The issue came to a head outside Mr. Heastie’s fund-raiser last month, when progressive activist groups like Indivisible and Rise and Resist, which formed after the 2016 presidential election, organized a protest. Black leaders arrived to counterprotest.
The dueling groups lined up on opposite sides of a sidewalk: the protesting activists, many of them white, facing the counterprotesters, all black.
The activists “don’t look like us, don’t live with us,” said the Rev. Troy DeCohen, a pastor who leads the United Black Clergy of Westchester.
“What they’re trying to do is co-opt what historically has been rooted in the black community,” he added, referring to the black community’s history of social justice activism.
The new groups draw strong support in primarily white neighborhoods in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Westchester. Several of the protesters at Mr. Heastie’s fund-raiser lived in the West Village.
Some of the candidates backed by the new groups last year, though diverse in race and gender, won significantly more votes in gentrifying areas of Brooklyn and Queens than in predominantly black or brown neighborhoods. Their rivals had accused them of siding with gentrifiers over poorer communities.
But the groups also include members from diverse demographics; local chapters dot the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens. They support racial justice priorities such as criminal justice reform and more school funding.
They also work closely with unions and longer-standing activist groups that are well known for representing — and being led by — working-class people of color.
“I was deeply offended by the suggestion that it was only white progressives,” said Jawanza Williams, the lead organizer for VOCAL-NY, which focuses on issues like criminal justice and homelessness.
Mr. Williams, who is black and formerly homeless, helped lead the protest outside of Mr. Heastie’s fund-raiser. “It erases the struggle of black organizers who are progressive.”
The protesters at the fund-raiser emphasized that their criticism was not of the Assembly speaker as a black man, but for the role they said he played in delaying campaign finance reform.
“What struck a chord was the hypocrisy,” Livvie Mann, of the group Rise and Resist, said of Mr. Heastie. Ms. Mann, who is white, organized the protest. “Days after the budget, he does a huge fund-raiser, and it felt like a slap in the face.”
Kirsten John Foy, president of the activism group Arc of Justice and one of the organizers of the counterprotest, said he agreed with the need to get big money out of politics. But he took issue with the protesters’ tactics and their lack of diversity.
Mr. DeCohen said black members of the activist groups had been “brainwashed.” He added, “We always call them the Uncle Toms.”
Jason Walker, VOCAL-NY’s campaign director, replied that he was surprised to “see the black faith leaders take the playbook” of racial division.
“As a black millennial and a progressive, I’m looking for my leaders to set up the next generation to win,” he said.
Mr. Heastie, in brief comments to reporters as he entered the fund-raiser, brushed off the criticism. The political action committee for which he was fund-raising gave $50,000 last year to help elect more Democrats to the Senate.
“History will show that the Democratic Assembly has always been the progressive champions,” he said. “That’s what people should be looking at, on the actions that we take.”
The tension arrives at a key moment in New York history: Along with Mr. Heastie’s historic ascent to the speakership, Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins this year became the first black woman to lead the State Senate. Democrats had seized control of both chambers of the Legislature on a promise to quickly enact sweeping change.
Democratic activists defended their right to criticize Mr. Heastie, and insisted that their protests were not racially motivated.
But the party has disagreed about what changes, when, and in what order.
The $175 billion state budget passed on April 1 included major progressive victories, including limiting cash bail and releasing money for the city’s public housing system. The black leaders said those achievements should be celebrated, and suggested that campaign finance reform was a lower-priority issue.
“I’ve never had one person in Central Harlem and East Harlem say, ‘Brian Benjamin, go to Albany and get me public financing,’” said Mr. Benjamin, the state senator, though he said he supports the idea. “They want affordable housing, money for education and criminal justice reform.”
But proponents of public financing said getting big money out of politics would make other progressive goals possible.
Ricky Silver, a lead organizer of the group Empire State Indivisible, called public financing the “tip of the arrowhead as it relates to all progressive issues.” Studies have shown that donor diversity increases in public matching systems.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson wrote a recent opinion piece calling the policy a potential “game changer.”
White activists also defended their right to criticize Mr. Heastie.
“He, as the leader of the Assembly, represents the entire state,” said Paul Rabin, a member of the group Rise and Resist.
Still, several black leaders who were not at the protest said that while they agreed with the activist groups’ goals, the groups should be conscious of how their actions might appear to observers.
L. Joy Williams, the president of the Brooklyn N.A.A.C.P., said “optics and public perception” of the issues activists were fighting for could sidetrack their cause, rather than advance it.
Jamaal T. Bailey, a state senator who represents the Bronx and Westchester and considers Mr. Heastie his political mentor, said Democrats should focus on party unity, citing lyrics from the Jay-Z song “Family Feud.” “Nobody wins when the family feuds,” he said. “What’s better than one Democratic majority? Two.”
Even black activists who have been heavily involved with the new activist groups warned that certain voices should be careful not to drown out others.
Sherese Jackson, who until recently was the only nonwhite board member of Indivisible Nation BK, an activist group in Brooklyn formed after 2016, said the group often discusses how to increase diversity. But the discussions had yet to turn into real change.
“It is definitely a struggle as a woman of a color,” she said, “feeling 100 percent safe in a mostly white, progressive world.”
Events such as the protest against Mr. Heastie, even if well intentioned, could further deter nonwhite people from joining, she said.
“The visual alone — I could see how that could come across to people, and it could be a turnoff,” Ms. Jackson said. “This does not help the trust factor.”
Issues such as campaign-finance reform are dividing members, prompting vows to support challenges to incumbents at the next election.
The next state elections are 19 months away, but divides within the Democratic base are already roiling the party’s elected officials in Albany. One could see it in dueling demonstrations on a cobble-stoned street in Manhattan last week, when about 50 people protested at a campaign fundraiser hosted by state Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie. They inflated a man in a yellow hazmat suit, staging a “corruption cleanup” outside the wine bar Terroir Tribeca to criticize Mr. Heastie for taking large contributions, particularly from real-estate interests, while legislators prepare to tackle the renewal of New York City’s rent regulations.
Claire Ullman of Rise and Resist, a progressive political organization, said campaign-finance reform and a system where public money matches small contributions underpinned action in other policy areas. If officials like Mr. Heastie were accountable to small donors instead of the lobbyists at the fundraiser, they would enact policies that favored tenants and workers, Ms. Ullman said.
Another 20 people held a counter-demonstration in support of the speaker. Kirsten John Foy of the Arc of Justice, a civil rights group, said Mr. Heastie had been a progressive champion and just pushed to increase school funding and significantly reduce the use of cash bail.
The two groups of protesters shouted competing chants as about 100 people inside the fundraiser sipped wine and nibbled on stuffed mushrooms, pigs-in-a-blanket, popcorn and chips.
When they passed the budget two weeks ago, state lawmakers punted decisions on public campaign financing to a commission that will issue a report in December. Mr. Heastie expressed doubts about public financing during budget talks, and Ms. Ullman blamed him for the punt. She said her group would support primary challenges to incumbent Democrats next year if there wasn’t substantive campaign-finance reform.
Mr. Heastie shrugged off the threat of primary challenges, and said on his way into the event that his PAC in 2018 helped flip the state Senate into Democratic hands. He said he wasn’t accepting money from real-estate interests.
Similar tensions are bubbling within the state Senate Democratic conference. Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins on Wednesday warned some of the newer, more progressive members of her conference about publicly encouraging challenges to incumbent Democrats.
After that huddle, Sen. Alessandra Biaggi, a progressive newcomer who recently accused some fellow legislators of being “captured by lobbyist influence,” had a heated exchange with longtime Democratic Sen. Kevin Parker, four people familiar with the incident said. Before the blowup, Mr. Parker affirmed Ms. Stewart-Cousins’ point and said the words of individual members reflected on everyone.
Then Ms. Biaggi brought up a December tweet from Mr. Parker in which he told a Republican aide to kill herself. Mr. Parker eventually apologized for the tweet, and a spokesman for Ms. Stewart-Cousins said the leader had talked with him about it. Ultimately, Mr. Parker stormed out of the Wednesday meeting. He declined to comment.
Ms. Biaggi said in a Friday statement said that Mr. Parker’s tweet had made her uncomfortable but she didn’t speak out against him at the time.
“I had held my tongue because I understood that leadership was handling it. Nothing else,” Ms. Biaggi said in a statement on Friday.
New York State Sen. Phil Boyle speaks on the Senate floor sans tie on April 9.
TIED UP: And then there were two: Sen. Phil Boyle, a Republican from Long Island, joined Sen. John Liu last week in participating in a formal floor session without wearing a necktie.
Mr. Liu, a freshman Democrat from Queens, created a stir among some of his fellow senators when he began attending sessions without a tie in January. He said he doesn’t like neckties, and he thought the chamber was very hot.
Mr. Boyle said he was forced to wear a tie while a member of the Assembly, and felt social pressure to keep doing so as a senator. Indeed, Senate Minority Leader John Flanagan walked up to him on the floor Tuesday and gave him a tie to put on, but Mr. Boyle declined.
“I’m sure there was one senator who walked on the floor without mutton chops 100 years ago and was the first to do so. Times change and fashions change,” Mr. Boyle said.
A spokesman for Mr. Flanagan said he believed customs are important. A spokesman for Ms. Stewart-Cousins said there was no formal policy requiring neck-ware in the chamber.
THE QUESTION: What is former Gov. George E. Pataki’s middle name?
LAST WEEK’S ANSWER: The Tappan Zee Bridge was built at one of the widest points in the Hudson River because the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has exclusive rights for toll revenue on crossings within 25 miles of the Statue of Liberty. The Tappan Zee was built by the Thruway Authority, and chose the site because it was narrowly outside the Port’s sphere of influence.
Corrections & Amplifications
Kirsten John Foy is affiliated with the Arc of Justice, a civil rights group. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said he was affiliated with the National Action Network. (April 14, 2019.)
A protester stands on Harrison Street after Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie’s arrival at his fundraiser at the restaurant Terroir. Photo: Carl Glassman/Tribeca Trib
Loud, sign-waving protesters greeted State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie Thursday evening as he made his way along Harrison Street to the fundraiser he was throwing at the Tribeca restaurant Terroir.
Chanting “We gotta get big money out of politics!” a coalition of groups led by Rise and Resist crowded outside the restaurant where guests paid $500 to $25,000 to the Speaker Heastie PAC for a chance to sip cocktails and shmooze with the powerful Assembly leader. The demonstrators wanted Heastie to hear their demands for campaign finance reforms and other progressive legislation they say have gone unfulfilled by the now Democrat-led state legislature.
“We’re here to call out the toxic big money,” said Chris Tallent, who was on hand with Clean Up Carl, a giant “superhero for democracy” balloon overlooking the crowd. “We think instead of listening to big donors, he should be listening to everyday New Yorkers.”
“Heastie seems like kind of an old-time pol,” said Diane Englander from a group called Indivisible We Stand Upper West Side. Like other demonstrators, Englander called attention to what she complained was the passage of a weak pied-a-terre tax in the recently passed state budget, and a lack of support for small-donor matching funds.
“He doesn’t seem to want change that would affect his chances of remaining in office,” she said. “So this is part and parcel of that.”
The protesters argue the they’ve been let down by Assembly Democrats who had found it safe to support progressive causes when there was a Republican-dominated Senate.
“But now that the Senate is solidly in Democratic hands and has real progressive energy, the Assembly is waffling,” said Claire Ullman, a Rise and Resist spokeswoman. “This protest was the kickoff of a campaign to hold the Assembly to higher standards.”
Outside Terroir, a demonstrator asked Heastie why he was “putting big money before people.”
“I don’t agree with your assertion that I’m putting big money before people,” he replied.
Then asked why he didn’t get the Assembly to pass campaign finance reform, Heastie answered: “I agreed to the same budget as the governor and the state Senate.” Before the demonstrator could follow up, the Speaker was escorted inside to his fundraiser.
A spokeswoman for Hastie did not respond to a request for comment.
