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Climate March in New York City Largest In History

By Vivienne Scott
Published on: 07:06 PST, Sep 21, 2014

The Climate March on Sunday in New York City drew over 100,000 people from all walks of life. The march precedes a Climate Summit at the U.N. on Tuesday that is part of a push to get countries to sign on to a global climate change agreement to reduce carbon emissions by the end of 2015.

Even famous faces joined the Climate March, which took place in midtown Manhattan throughout much of the day on Sunday. Former vice-president Al Gore, actor Leonardo DiCaprio, and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon were among those attending the march, according to the New York Post. Ban Ki-moon has made climate change one of the cornerstones of his seven-year tenure as head of the U.N.

The march was described by organizers as the largest climate march ever, and there were similar but smaller marches in places like London and over 150 other countries. The route of the Climate March through Manhattan saw marchers carrying sunflowers and chanting catchy slogans. According to organizers, there were over 500 busloads of people who got there early.

The Climate March was followed by a block party that covered four city blocks in midtown Manhattan.

Amid the march on the sidelines, there were many people of all kinds who did everything from Muslim prayers to handing out paper sunflowers.

Just before 1 p.m., Climate March organizers asked the crowd to be silent for a moment, and then blasted a loud noise to symbolize an alarm on climate change. The march itself started just before 11:30 a.m. and covered about two miles. According to the New York Times, there were so many people at the march that two hours after it started, there were still people waiting to begin walking.

The NYPD declared a no-fly zone over the city during the Climate March.

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