Climate change activists blocked streets and snarled traffic in the heart of Times Square on Thursday, resulting in the arrest of more than 60 people, police sources said.
Dozens of demonstrators with the group Extinction Rebellion massed in the morning at the Crossroads of the World, where they plopped a green boat emblazoned with the words “Act Now” in the middle of the street at the intersection of West 44th Street and Broadway.
Some protesters climbed onto the boat wearing life jackets, while several others affixed themselves to the vessel as more protesters surrounded it holding signs that read: “Tell Congress there is no room in government for climate deniers” and “Save our planet.”
The demonstrators shouted: “What do we want want? Climate justice! When do we want it? Now!”
A high-ranking police source said that by noon, 62 adults and one juvenile had been arrested on charges of disorderly conduct.
Those nabbed included a dad who was busted on a charge of endangering the welfare of a child because his 16-year-old son’s feet were glued to the top of the boat, sources said.
Fifteen people who had affixed themselves to the boat were hit with an additional charge of obstructing governmental administration.
The NYPD towed the boat away shortly before noon to the sounds of cheering protesters.
“The point of this protest is we want to make noise. We want to shout about it. We want people to listen,” said demonstrator Koah White, 25, of London. “We’re in Times Square. There’s businesses all around us and nobody’s stopping to think. It’s business as usual.”
White said the green boat — which was adorned with several international flags — is “a symbol of rising sea levels.”
“It’s the fact that this issue transcends countries,” said White.
Another activist, Bernardo Issel of Brooklyn, said: “The seas are rising and we need to pay attention to that.”
“Times Square is the center of attention. It’s media. It’s tourists,” Issel said. “So why not plan a pop-up protest?”
Some 90 members of the climate contingent were collared on Monday when demonstrators doused Wall Street’s Charging Bull statue with fake blood.
That day the environmental activist group also protested in Paris, Berlin, London and other cities across the globe.
