Hamptons Protesters Urge Taxing the Rich, Get Arrested

A group of activists were arrested during protests in which picketers blocked traffic over the weekend in the Hamptons, according to police and representatives of the advocacy group.

Members of New York Communities for Change said the string of protests were to call attention to their demands that lawmakers tax the rich to fund climate action and affordable housing.

Protesters chanted, “Tax the rich,” during one of the rallies that blocked the entrance to East Hampton Airport in Wainscott on July 11. They directed their message to Gov. Kathy Hochul, who recently won the Democratic gubernatorial primary as she asks voters to return her to Albany. “Governor Hochul, start today, make billionaires pay!”

Organizers said four people were arrested during a July 8 rally in Southampton when hundreds marched on Meadow Lane — dubbed “Billionaire’s Row.” Six were arrested July 10 in East Hampton, and the July 11 airport protest ended in another half dozen arrests.

“Police encountered approximately 30 pedestrians who were walking in traffic” East Hampton Village Police said of the July 10 march that the department described as peaceful, explaining, “The group eventually positioned themselves in the roadway in a manner which blocked traffic in order to conduct a protest. Village officers eventually detoured traffic away from the protest. Six persons were subsequently arrested without incident.”