Organizers called for the reinstatement of the state's "Millionaire Tax," and ending subsidies for companies that don't actually create jobs. They called for Bloomberg to "make the banks pay":
Thousands of teachers, social workers, union members and more took part in a march Thursday against Mayor Michael Bloomberg's plans for wide-ranging budget cuts -- and against the Wall Street bankers they blame for the city's budget woes.
Activists reported that the NYPD had arrested several marchers, but the demonstration took on a mostly joyful cast, with colorful signs, raucous chants and even a stilt-walker.
The May 12 Coalition's organizers promised a big turnout of more than 10,000 marchers, and while immediately pinning down the crowd's size proved difficult, at least that number turned out.
Demonstrators from the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) alone, which faces more than 4,000 teacher cuts if Bloomberg's budget is enacted as is, numbered in the thousands.
Rev. Al Sharpton, UFT President Michael Mulgrew and an array of city councilmembers and state elected officials laid the blame for the budget cuts squarely at Bloomberg and Wall Street's feet.
"Wall Street recovered, hedge funds got stimulated, and now they want to lay off teachers and close day care centers," Sharpton said. "We're going where they sent the money," he said of the march.
