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State Sen. Liz Krueger, an influential Democrat and chair of the Senate\u2019s Finance Committee, said that she hopes the protests make a difference, but acknowledged it\u2019s hard for any single demonstration to break through at a Capitol crowded with constant demonstrations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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![\"Assemblywoman]()
<\/p>\n
Assemblywoman Diana Moreno joins demonstrators who are in favor of legislation called \u201cNew York for All\u201d that would limit cooperation between local police and immigration authorities.<\/p>\n
Will Waldron\/Times Union<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like I am spending my day working on really hard, important issues, but it doesn\u2019t mean I\u2019m actually aware of who\u2019s here at any specific day for what specific issues,\u201d said Krueger, who supports both measures and rallied with advocates ahead of the sit-ins. \u201cAnd I suspect that that is probably very true of the three people in the room as well.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Krueger was referring to a long-standing New York phrase that describes the closed-door budget negotiations between representatives of the governor, state Senate majority leader and the Assembly speaker.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When asked if the protests influence\u00a0Hochul\u2019s position, officials with the governor\u2019s office pivoted to policy, emphasizing her proposal in the budget, which she said would hold federal immigration agents accountable and protect the constitutional rights of New Yorkers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe governor remains focused on working with the Legislature to keep federal overreach out of New York, and will review all legislation that passes both houses,\u201d said Jess D\u2019Amelia, a spokeswoman for the governor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When asked about the protests, and whether it changes things during the budget negotiations, Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie said: \u201cI don\u2019t want to put a personal judgment on people\u2019s protesting and civil disobedience. That\u2019s their personal choice.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe always try to do things on the merits and, to say for the Assembly, the coordination and cooperation with law enforcement that could be used in a far too aggressive manner, and tearing families apart with cooperation with ICE,\u201d Heastie said. \u201cThat\u2019s a concern we have. I don\u2019t think we have a disagreement with the advocates on that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Performative art\u2019<\/p>\n
Demonstrations and news conferences are part of daily life at the Capitol. There are often dozens of rallies throughout the day but only a handful end in arrests every year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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The incident Wednesday came as lawmakers are weighing tax increases on the wealthy and changes to laws meant to protect immigrants and the environment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With the looming budget deadline, which was not met and extended last week, throngs of immigrant rights and climate activists descended on the Capitol.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Anti-ICE]()
<\/p>\n
Anti-ICE demonstrators hold a protest outside Gov. Kathy Hochul\u2019s office on March 31.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Will Waldron\/Times Union<\/p>\n
The week before Wednesday\u2019s protest, the New York Immigration Coalition and other groups blocked the Capitol\u2019s State Street entrance and refused to move until lawmakers passed New York for All. Many lawmakers sat in the middle of State Street with a banner that read \u201cNY 4 ALL.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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State Police were told not to arrest protesters that day, and the demonstrators left a few hours after the rally began.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The following day, on March 25, about 500 climate activists and lawmakers packed the Million Dollar Staircase before blocking multiple entrances to Hochul\u2019s office wing. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Hochul, who wasn\u2019t at the Capitol that day, has proposed amending the emissions reduction mandates for a 2019 law intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and transition New York to more renewable energy sources.<\/p>\n
Hochul has said a delay of the emissions targets are crucial because of concerns over the potential crushing costs for residents and businesses. Climate activists are urging the governor to redouble efforts to produce more\u00a0renewables in the face of climate change and high prices for natural gas.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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The group blocked four entrances before state troopers began making arrests. Of the 21 arrested by State Police that day, 18 were charged with trespassing. Three were charged with trespassing and resisting arrest, which is a misdemeanor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Environmental]()
<\/p>\n
Environmental advocates protest outside the governor\u2019s office during a rally held in opposition to Gov. Kathy Hochul\u2019s plan to adjust the provisions of New York\u2019s Climate Act. Twenty-one people were later arrested.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Will Waldron\/Times Union<\/p>\n
Pete Sikora, the Climate and Inequality Campaigns director for New York Communities for Change, was one of those arrested.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sikora said the goal of the sit-in was to physically interfere with the operations of the governor\u2019s office to send a message. He noted they were willing to risk arrest to create the friction necessary to capture media attention and elevate their cause.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Senate Minority Leader Robert G. Ortt characterized Capitol protests generally as \u201cperformative art\u201d and \u201ctheatrical,\u201d saying that they do not influence his conference and can actually harden their opposition to certain issues.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ortt emphasized that while he supports the right to protest he is skeptical of many of the organizers. He echoed a long-standing Albany belief that some protesters have been lured by left-wing groups from New York City to Albany for a free lunch, a T-shirt and a bus ride.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Guillermo]()
<\/p>\n
Guillermo Maciel, 49, of North Chatham, was arrested by state troopers outside the Senate Chamber on Wednesday. He said he took part after seeing the impact federal immigration enforcement is having on farms in the Hudson Valley.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Will Waldron\/Times Union<\/p>\n
All of those arrested during the climate protest are from New York City, although the immigration protest saw people from the Hudson Valley and other areas of upstate New York, according to State Police.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Liz Moran, a New York policy advocate for Earth Justice, one of several organizers of the Climate Act protest, said her organization was not involved in the tactics used by some of the protesters.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Moran disputed claims that protesters are paid or performative, asserting that the large turnouts represent working New Yorkers who are genuinely struggling to choose between \u201cheating and eating.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Moran framed Capitol protests as an essential democratic tool used by the public to compete with the outsized financial influence of corporate industries.<\/p>\n
Reed Dunlea, director of communications and movement strategy for the New York Immigration Coalition, said that direct action and civil disobedience are necessary because New York lawmakers often allow momentum for critical bills to stall once a specific news cycle or tragedy fades. Dunlea was one of the dozen arrested on Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Assemblywoman Gabriella Romero, who represents Albany, New Scotland and parts of Guilderland, expressed personal disapproval that protesters were arrested during peaceful rallies at the Capitol. She emphasized that such visible, broad-based demonstrations are vital for signaling support to legislators that New York for All is a high priority for state negotiators.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Left with no other choice\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
Guillermo Maciel, 49, of North Chatham, sat in front of a pair of doors leading to the Senate.<\/p>\n
Maciel, who owns a farm in the Hudson Valley, said he had seen firsthand how migrant workers at larger farms are scared to come to work, not knowing whether they would be able to come home and collect their kids at the school bus.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe\u2019re left with no other choice than to be a part of a long history of civil disobedience that is able to send a message to the powers that be that enough is enough,\u201d Maciel said, before he was taken into custody by state troopers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"A]()
<\/p>\n
A state trooper warns demonstrators blocking the Assembly Chamber entrance on Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Will Waldron\/Times Union<\/p>\n
After the demonstration was broken up on the Senate side, protesters moved to the Assembly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As a state trooper delivered warnings using a bullhorn, advocates signaled for their group to get louder. They chanted in English and Spanish, \u201cif we don\u2019t get it, shut it down.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Assemblywoman Diana Moreno, whose district is in Queens, stood in the middle of the protesters, thanking them for pressing lawmakers. She led a chant of \u201cpick a side.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
After protesters on the Assembly side were led away by State Police, some demonstrators remained on the staircase, their chants growing fainter as they descended.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When the demonstrators left, signs and banners were tossed in a recycling bin. State Sen. Scott Gray posed on the Senate staircase for a photo with teens from a local high school who were visiting the Capitol. And the silence returned.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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