US Uncut NYC Protesting Bank of America
In the springtime sun of Saturday morning past, an outspoken, yet civil group of demonstrators gathered outside the Ludlow Residence Bank of America on Delancey for a so-called “teach-in.” The twenty or so activists assembled to protest (“get mad, fight back”) the financial institution and how it’s “robbing our children of their education.” A few in the crowd had stacks of flyers and doled them out to passersby, all under the watchful eye of the NYPD. The crux of the argument posits that Bank of America, a bailout recipient, is avoiding its tax payments.
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The rally, which was organized by US Uncut NYC, stuck around for a hot minute, but was kicked from the premises by the fuzz. All in attendance then peacefully marched away westward to Sara D. Roosevelt Park. US Uncut NYC is a local grassroots organization dedicated to ensuring corporations pay their fair share of taxes, and that child/senior services aren’t cut from any lack of payment.
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Political magazine The Nation has more:
As the poor sacrifice their social services, Bank of America, which received $45 billion in taxpayer money during the bailout, and has spent $12 million on lobbying since 2008, paid no taxes at all in 2009 and even enjoyed a tax credit of $1.9 billion.
The first teach-in took place in a Lower East Side BoA, and was extremely short-lived. The bank’s security called the police almost immediately, and the group was promptly kicked out. Several attempts to continue the protest outside were also broken up even though, as the US Uncut organizers pointed out, they were attempting to congregate on a public sidewalk.
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