Group Holds Protests at East Hampton Airport and in Hampton Bays

More than a dozen protesters were arrested after they blocked the entrance to East Hampton Airport last week in an effort to raise awareness of the environmental impact of wealthy commuters flying on private aircraft.

Sporting bullhorns, drums, plastic pitchforks and T-shirts that read “Billionaires, What Are You Saving Up For? Hell?” the protesters managed to block most vehicle traffic into and out of the airport’s main entrance for about 90 minutes.

The protest, led by two groups calling themselves New York Communities for Change and Planet Over Profit, was announced days in advance, and police were on hand when about 30 protesters arrived at the airport shortly before noon on July 14. A similar protest was held on Saturday in Hampton Bays with members of the Shinnecock Nation.

In East Hampton, the protesters laid down across the entrance of the airport and linked their arms together inside hard plastic pipes using chains to make it harder for police to separate them. One protester wrapped their arms and legs around the sign at the entrance of the airport and put both hands into a Y joint pipe.

Police in tactical gear and helmets used power tools to cut the plastic tubes apart and separate the protesters.

East Hampton Town Police said that 14 people were charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. They were booked and released with orders to return to court at a later date.

Among those arrested, the groups announced, was Abigail Disney, a member of the wealthy Disney family, who has long been an advocate for action to reverse climate change.

“As a person who has been privileged enough to use private jets, I know it’s hard to give up a luxury that is special. But I also know that the time has passed for spewing greenhouse gases like this merely for our personal comfort,” Disney, 63, said in a statement the group released.

She continued: “The events of the past week alone, with Earth’s average temperature hitting an all-time high, drought and fatal heat waves across the country, floods in Vermont and New York, and ocean temperatures around Florida well over 90 degrees, should remove all doubt once and for all. The wealthiest 1 percent uses as much greenhouse gas as the entire bottom 50 percent. It is time for real change, and this is the most obvious place to start.”

Another of those arrested was Tyler Ogborn, one of the organizers of Planet Over Profit.

“These same rich people farting into the Hamptons on private jets are often the ones who make their money in industries that hugely accelerate the climate crisis,” he said in a statement after his arrest. “As long as the 1 percent continues to needlessly poison our air and heat our Earth, we will continue to escalate our actions against them.”

The others arrested were Klea Hazizaj, 19, of the Bronx; Sophia Emmanuelle Shepherd, 23, of Riverside, Connecticut; Isabelle Graj, 23, of Pleasantville; Dylan Kilgore, 19, of Brooklyn; John A. Kerin, 30, of Bethany, Connecticut; Annabella Mead-Van Cort, 23, of Ithaca; Matthew Sirotkin, 25, of Stony Brook; Joseph A. Leone, 29, of Manhattan; Esther Feldman, 20, of Brooklyn; Natalia J. Scollo, 29, of Lindenhurst; Gabriel Reichler, 24, of Manhattan; and Jonathan Kirsch, 31, of Manhattan.

Each was charged with one count of resisting arrest, a misdemeanor, and one count of disorderly conduct, a violation.

New York Communities for Change staged a similar protest at the airport last year as well, resulting in six arrests. The group then held a march on Main Street in East Hampton Village, blocking traffic while holding signs proclaiming “Tax the Rich.” Several more were arrested after they sat down at the intersection of Main Street and Newtown Lane.

Following the Friday protest, members of Communities for Change marched on Saturday with members of the Shinnecock Nation in Hampton Bays, in another event mirroring last year’s series of protests, dubbed “Tax the Rich for Climate Justice,” seeking to call attention to the fight against climate change and the outsized carbon footprint the rich leave behind.

“As a Hurricane Sandy survivor whose family lost our home, I know firsthand that the grotesquely wealthys’ reckless consumption is destroying our lives,” said Rachel Rivera, member of New York Communities for Change. “The 1 percent can try to hide away in the Hamptons, but as their fossil fuel investments overheat our planet, we’ll be at their doorsteps to hold them accountable.”

A third protest scheduled for Sunday, outside the Sebonack Golf Club in Tuckahoe, which the group says it singled out because its members must pay more than $1 million to join, was canceled because of bad weather.