The BroadsheetDAILY ~ News of Lower Manhattan 9/20/19

(and Teach Us All a Lesson) in Today’s Climate Strike

Students from P.S./I.S. 276 left their classrooms in March, 2018, to protest gun violence. Today, they are expected to do the same, but this time the focus will be on climate change.

Today (Friday, September 20) elementary and high school students from throughout Lower Manhattan — and around the City — are expected to walk out of classes shortly before noon to attend Climate Strike NYC: A Call to Action.

Although some controversy has surrounded the decision by the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio to allow public school students to leave school so they can attend Climate Strike (with the proviso that high school students need parental permission, and elementary school students will not be permitted to leave unless picked up by a parent), a broad range of political and community leaders have endorsed Climate Strike NYC.

City Council member Margaret Chin said, “today, our young people will be showing the world what true leadership and courage looks like. This generation stands to be impacted the most by climate change, so it is no surprise that they are leading the way. I look forward to partnering with these future leaders in building a greener New York.”

Paul Hovitz

Veteran community leader Paul Hovitz — who most recently served as vice chair of Community Board 1 (CB1), and once chaired that panel’s Youth & Education Committee — said, “as our youth has the greatest stake in the future, it is most fitting that they make their support known. Tens of thousands marched after the Parkland school shooting, concerned about their brothers, sisters, friends and classmates being slaughtered in their place of learning.”

“Climate change stands to slaughter much greater numbers,” he continued, “and indeed, the Earth itself. Hurricane Sandy hit our community with an impact not unlike the planes on September 11. So it is most appropriate for our students to march in support of all methods to counteract climate change. This, in the face of an administration and President who deny the obvious, in spite of the carnage we endure. I applaud their efforts and pray that those in leadership pay heed to all these future voters.”

	Alice Blank

Alice Blank, who chairs CB1’s Environmental Protection Committee, said, “as a parent and as a resident of Lower Manhattan, I am acutely aware of the risks our community faces. I feel strongly that the next generation should not have to do this alone. I hope to see parents and government officials striking along with the students today. New Yorkers of all ages must acknowledge the perils we face or we’ll find ourselves swimming down Broadway rather than marching. To quote our environmental Joan of Arc, Greta Thunberg, “this is the biggest crisis humanity has ever faced, you cannot solve a crisis without treating it as one.”

Wendy Chapman, co-chair of CB1’s Environmental Protection Committee (who also serves on that panel’s Youth & Education Committee), said, “my two high-school kids will join their public school classmates at tomorrow’s Climate Strike, I hope it is an amazing turnout and these young voices are heard around the world.”

Greta Thunberg: “This is the biggest crisis humanity has ever faced, you cannot solve a crisis without treating it as one.” photo: BPCA/Jonathan Gross

“So many of us feel helpless when it comes to addressing global warming,” she continued. “Communities all over the world are dealing with stronger storms, and extreme temperatures. Those of us who live Downtown acutely felt Sandy’s wrath as much of our neighborhood flooded and we lost power.”

“Many years later,” Ms. Chapman reflected, “CB1 continues to be extremely vulnerable to flooding. While Battery Park City moves forward with a plan to raise the edge by roughly eight feet, the rest of the community — especially north Tribeca — has no real plan for when the next Sandy hits. We will flood again. Our community, our City, our State and nation must come together — but will we? Hopefully this march will make a difference.”

Emily Hellstrom, a Downtown activist and a Peck Slip School parent (who has served on the board of that school’s Parent-Teacher Association) said, “with news, reported just today, that the number of birds in the United States and Canada has declined by three billion, or 29 percent, over the past half-century, nothing could be more important that sounding the alarm on climate change. And who better to do this than the people who will be affected the most! Our children are Mother Earth’s biggest fan base, and they are deeply concerned at how we have been treating her. Childhood anxiety levels are on the rise, and is it any wonder when they see the headlines and know that there is almost total inaction from our leaders?”

Ms. Hellstrom continued, “the most patriotic act I can think of is to raise your voice in protest. To have our kids exit their school buildings today is to have them participate in a live-action civics lesson, while showing them how their own agency will make change. My own kids will be out there, along with millions of others across the country, demanding action. Nothing could make me more proud!”

For more information about today’s Climate Strike, please browse: strikewithus.org.