pitchfork wielding protesters descend on
wealthy Hamptons estates a caravan of
protesters some wielding pitchforks
descended on the Hamptons Wednesday to
blast the rich and decried the nation's
rising income inequality more than 100
drivers and about 200 marchers paid a
visit to the homes of some of the
world's wealthiest people including ex
New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg tax
the rich not the poor the protesters
chanted outside Bloomberg's 20 million
dollar southampton mansion with some
calling the failed presidential
candidate a looter protesters several of
whom came in from the Big Apple demanded
that the New York Governor Andrew Cuomo
raise taxes in the state 118
billionaires to make up for a steep
revenue shortfall and made the corona
virus pandemic the group is taking issue
with Cuomo's pitch to cut 20% in state
funding from schools hospitals and
housing agencies they noted that while
the virus outbreak has deeply impacted
low-income people in communities of
color the wealth of US billionaires has
surged enough is enough it's time for
New York State to raise taxes on the
rich instead of cutting services working
people said Alice Nascimento director of
policy and research for New York
communities for change which helped
organize the action organizers also
included the New York taxi workers
Alliance there's about 40 medallion cabs
taking part the cabbies were already in
debt crisis before the virus emerged and
have been hit hard by the pandemic you
know if the cabs would stop opening
their window before letting me in and
asking where I'm going and then locking
the door and driving away when I say
that I'm going to bed-stuy maybe there'd
be less of that I don't have a lot of
sympathy for the yellow cabs and when
people say that like you know uber and
lyft of destroying the yellow taxis like
the amount of times that I've had
someone say where are you going and then
they go bed-stuy they know they just
drive away and lock their doors I'm no
no sympathy for you but to continue
they let a chant of no more suicides no
more bankruptcies at one point or in the
March members of the I'm gonna
mispronounce that so I'm just not gonna
say it because I'm gonna mispronounce it
and it's gonna be bad
members of the this Indian nation all
still part in the protest including
Rebecca
jenia who said in a statement
billionaires take our land to build golf
courses and mansions profit off from the
ravages of coronavirus and exploit our
labor it's clear the real looters in New
York of the billionaires
it's time to make them pay their fair
share so we can all thrive the group
will stop by mansions owned by
Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman and
real estate developers Stephen Ross and
I plan to visit the estate of investor
and hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb
business billionaires are experts in
social distancing Nascimento told The
Post's they've chosen living their own
world and are separate from the
realities of everyday people into those
to the people whose lives they have a
tremendous impact on taking the protest
to the wealthy enclave shows that we are
here we are affected we're not going to
stand now we're gonna make sure our
voices are heard and this is one of the
things where when I've said that I kind
of like want to leave the New York City
area even if I were to leave like this
area and go somewhere else like a suburb
nearby you're never really gonna get
away from the from from this really like
there's people marching by with
pitchforks and all that kind of stuff
even mean even if it's a plastic
pitchfork you know all that stuff and I
get it one of the things I've said is
that rich people are really bad at doing
PR for their own image and making you
know because one of the things being a
billionaire is your ridiculous minority
you know you gotta make some effort if
large groups of people intensely dislike
you it's you know and put stop do things
like what happened to Jeff Bezos and put
guillotines outside of their home you
really gotta put some effort in to make
it seem like that's not what should be
happening and like I remember when when
Jeff Bezos and Amazon took over Whole
Foods some benefits at Whole Foods were
cut and it's just stuff like that where
when you see that we live in a time
regardless of what your internal
politics are I'm just talking from a
practical sense when you see that there
are Democratic socialists getting
elected to positions in Congress and
local and city council and so on and so
forth all across the country you may not
want to do that because again you know
the whole the guillotine thing and all
that that being said one of the things
that is really you know people said
they're mad at Andrew Cuomo for not
taxing the billionaires more and cutting
the state budget is that it's one thing
if you do it at the federal level
because if you do it at the federal
level so long as you live in America
then you're being taxed more but you
can't really do this stuff at the state
level because in New York City the
amount of taxes that are paid by the
people who are wealthy
already are fairly high they're higher
than they would be virtually anywhere
else in the country and at some point
you know the billionaire is in this area
are gonna say well okay I can just go
200 miles in that direction and avoid
this and they have the ability to do
that because that's that's the thing if
you like if you raise taxes in the
United States the likelihood of people
actually leaving the country like an
argument can be made there but I'd say
probably not but the argument for people
leaving New York City is actually a you
know why not many of the things that New
York is known for you know all the the
bars the shows the the small shops all
that stuff it's all gone you know the
place that I had my my first date that
went well in the entire city is you know
is a nice little restaurant I used to go
to all the time is now a Santander or
sour tender I forget what the
neighborhood Santander bank you know
there was a record store in the end of
that block that's now a capital one like
all the stuff that made the city cool
has been replaced with Starbucks Chase
Whole Foods Starbucks Chase Trader Joe's
Starbucks Chase Starbucks che Santander
Starbucks che Santander and now that you
have Corona that after the corona
happens all that stuff is closed a lot
of it may not come back after the you
know the the protests and then the the
riot and the looting and all that like
there's really not much of an argument
to be made for why it is someone would
want to stay in this city so what I find
really sad here is let's say that the
protesters are correct and they're
pointing to specific billionaires that
have done specific things that are bad
let's say that I'm not let's say you go
all that on that side I don't see how
this is something that's actually gonna
be fixable because so the rhetoric
towards the rich is going to get worse
that's and it's which may lead to taxes
going up that's gonna lead to them
leaving them leaving means the few
people that are left are gonna have even
well now now the budgets even worse now
we have the tax them even more which is
then gonna lead to more people leaving
more people leaving more budget cuts
more budget cuts more protests more
protests more taxes more taxes people
leaving and it's going to be like this
little god-awful vicious circle and it's
one of those things where I do wonder do
I want to be around for that
you know is this gonna be the place that
I want to live once that occurs but this
and the thing is people tip tend to go
all one way or all the other with this
you know like the it's all envy these
people are all crazy there's nothing you
know the rich earned everything and I
mean there's a lot of stuff that people
do that is really underhanded and
disgusting that allows them to become
rich and then there are people that say
well you know all these people are
clearly bad every single one last one of
them and there are lots of people that
have actually earned a lot of their
money and you know they weren't rent
seekers they genuinely added value to
society and a fair way that's not the
point I'm not even trying to get into
that debate here well you know there's a
so forget that's one movie in 2010 about
the financial crisis is a pretty good
one cuz he caught a lot of people pretty
scared about everything that was going
on what was the name of that yeah inside
job that was a good one like when you
say somebody I know I know it's partisan
I know it's partisan but just when you
see that movie the inside job and you
see some of the interviews and you see
the people sweating when they get asked
certain questions it makes you just want
to throw [ __ ] through your television
and pray that it comes out through the
other end and hits that person right in
the face but I'm not even going to get
into that I'm not even gonna get into
the back-and-forth about that whole
debate what I'm just with over the point
here that makes me sad is it doesn't
matter what side of this you're on it
doesn't matter if you're one of those
people saying you know they're all [ __ ]
the Communists protesters or if you're
one of those people saying you know put
all the rich in a guillotine it doesn't
or none of that [ __ ] really matters here
for me what matters America's screwed I
don't know maybe I think New York I
don't think America screwed but what
matters here is that all these
individuals when they see that people
are marching past their their places
with the pitchforks and all that and
it's like well you know there's not as
much to do here as there used to be and
it's gonna cost more to live here and
everybody here seems to hate us you know
huntsville alabama fort lauderdale but
you look around the country and you you
really it's not even the fact that the
places are cheaper because once you make
as much money as these people make it
does like once you're once you're a
billionaire how much you're taxed I
really don't think that that [ __ ]
matters to you anymore like once you're
worth eight billion dollars or seven
billion dollars
I don't I really don't think it matters
to you anymore but what matters is are
you sir what are you surrounded by and
it's like this I don't I don't see the
case where these people are going to be
staying and I don't see how if you
increase those taxes at the state level
more than they are when New York City is
it's pretty up there in the taxes I
don't see how this doesn't result in
people leaving going somewhere else and
then the people left behind being more
and more screwed because you have to
think about this the people that are in
the best position to say [ __ ] it let me
just move somewhere else are the people
who are rich the people who are on not
the best financial footing those are the
people that are stuck because they're
the people where you know let's say if
you're if your rent is 1,600 and you
make 1750 or 1,800 a month there's a
real razor thin wire that you have there
there's a very very very you you can't
afford to move because if you move and
you find a place but there is a blip or
you got to pay to reset up the place you
live in or you have a work a gap and
work for eight days you're [ __ ] cuz
you're on this little treadmill I've
been on that trouble before and the
moment that you stop running it tosses
you right off the treadmill the people
that are broke they're gonna stay even
though it's expensive here they have
come up with a situation for themselves
it allows them to live they've come up
with something that allows them to make
the money that they need to make to be
here so even like if your rent somewhere
else is 900 but you don't have a job
you're actually worse off than someone
whose rent is 1600 but they have a
support system they know how much
they're gonna make from their job they
know that there is a chance of them you
know maybe getting this side hustle
opportunity from a neighbor or something
in the next two to six months they like
those people are kind of stuck here in a
way that the people who are billionaires
or multimillionaires are not if you're
worth 20 million or 70 million or a
hundred million getting up and moving to
a place somewhere else in Fort
Lauderdale or Huntsville Alabama or
Lexington Kentucky or Brookfield
Wisconsin or going wherever the hell you
want to go it's pretty easy to you you
know you can hire movers you can hire a
person to judge houses based on criteria
so you don't even have to go into them
don't even have to like walk into them
to see what it is you like like all that
[ __ ] is gonna be done it's gonna be easy
as hell for them the cost of moving the
friction is very low so Cuomo is in an
interesting spot here because no matter
what he does he's gonna be hated and I
say this is someone who has you know I'm
one of the original Cuomo haters of what
I watch every interview that Larry
sharps done he goes over the downsides
of Cuomo very very well but you know he
Cuomo's kind of [ __ ] regardless of what
he does here because if he doesn't raise
taxes then the pitchforks are gonna come
for him but if he does raise taxes then
reality is going to set in which is that
those people will go to another state
because you have to understand New York
City doesn't have anything going for it
that justifies it being so expensive
it's not like it's not like there's a
luxury here that's not available in
other states when you go to other states
it's cleaner that when you go to other
states the people in other states are
actually nicer to you it's not just the
fact it's not even just the surroundings
when you add when you go outside of New
York City or New York State or Long
Island people are actually friendly to
you you know I'm never gonna forget this
thing I'm just walking into this place
while I was on the way to around
Allentown Pennsylvania and I walk into
this gas station convenience shop and
someone looks at me and says yeah and I
and says hi and I thought you know the
first thing I immediately did is I took
my left hand and I went for my wallet
because I thought you know okay her
boyfriend's pick pickpocket me or
something because that when someone just
randomly smiled at you and says hi Annie
where I live that the first that comes
in my head is I'm somebody's trying to
rob me so I you know I go and I check
and they say and I said hi and she says
which one of these should I get and I
said I think you should get this one
it's healthy and it's a good flavor and
she says all right you have a nice day
now and she said have a nice day just
like have a nice day and laugh like that
it's crazy people are actually nice to
you you can you go to other parts of the
country and you know you could see the
the sky clearly there's no the traffic
is an awful the people are nice it's you
have to understand that the selling
points that to me to have New York City
be taxed at a premium over other parts
of the country you got to be careful
because there's not a lot here to make
worth that it would be one thing if well
New York City is special and better than
every other place in the world so tax it
more but I don't see that so I think a
lot of those people are gonna wind up
leaving and whether or not they earned
their money or whether they're evil
[ __ ] oppressors that have screwed
their way into every single dime they
had inside job 2010 movie style and our
absolute scumbags that doesn't really
change the fact of the matter that they
have the freedom to choose to leave the
state so if you address this at a
federal level well then you know they're
kind of stuck it doesn't matter doesn't
matter if they go to Huntsville Alabama
it doesn't matter if they go to Orlando
Florida doesn't matter if they go to New
Hampshire Delaware California New York
or Alaska they way the tax will occur
but if you try to pressure the governor
to do something about it you're stuck in
this situation where again no matter it
doesn't matter what what Cuomo does he's
[ __ ] and I you know I kind of feel
some some sympathy there as someone who
genuinely dislikes Kowal mo because he
believes he's a dictator so this is a
yeah this is this is an interesting
thing this is an interesting thing I'm
kind of curious how this is gonna go and
like I understand what people like
pissed you know cutting 20% from schools
hospitals and housing agencies I grew up
in New York City I went to a school in
New York City I'm fully aware that New
York City schools are funded at a higher
rate and schools around the country and
they still suck I'm Louie aware of how
[ __ ] our school system was I don't think
so mate you know yeah like cutting funds
from it's probably just gonna make [ __ ]
even worse than already is housing
agencies again a lot of people here are
living from paycheck to paycheck there's
this idea that New York City is where
all the know it's where all the money is
but it's where all the money is because
there's a small group of people that
have all the money and then there's a
bunch of people that are actually
completely broke that do live paycheck
to paycheck so cutting it from the
housing projects and all that this is
all gonna be something where the people
that are left are going to get more
increasingly aggravated and angry the
people who leave are gonna result in
there being less money in the city this
which means you know trying to get more
out of the people that stay making them
more angry get and then they leave and
I don't see this going anywhere good I
don't see that and you know I yeah I
don't see how this this gets fixed
easily I don't see this being fixed at
all honestly cuz like the again New York
City has been a [ __ ] for a really
long time and as I've said in many of my
videos the primary reason I'm here is
because in New York City has one thing
going for it one thing which is that if
you have a good idea and you're willing
to work your balls off then you can work
16 or 18 hours a day you can start from
scratch like I did you could start with
you know 200 bucks in your bank account
and a few hundred dollars in credit card
debt and make something of yourself and
build something from nothing if you're
willing to do that 17 hours a day if you
will understand in an Apple store and
walk in with a blue polo shirt and say
how can I help you and deal with their
customers you know you can get something
going for yourself here that you can
you're not gonna get into some small
town where you know one person drives by
every thirty minutes it's not the same
you can make something of yourself here
there's money here there are customers
here there's all different types of
business from all around the world it is
that melting pot but the problem is that
this melting pot has slowly over the
years become more and more insanely
expensive it's been driving more and
more people out because it keeps
becoming more and more expensive and at
some point you really do have to wonder
is it worth the amount of money to stay
here is it worth the quality of life
that you're giving up by choosing to be
here over any other peaceful quiet happy
party nice looking you know pretty lawns
buildings that are maintained properly
prices that are normal people are nice
part of the United States to stay and I
really do believe that New York City is
finally on that downswing because
regardless of how bad people have said
in New York is I mean and scummy it is
it's been scummy and disgusting for a
long time but there was always that
level of opportunity here and I think
that this is finally gonna be that shift
where that starts to go away where
businesses decide wait a second I could
have my employees work from home so why
am i paying 80,000 a month for a lease I
could pay 30,000 a month for release and
get everything done everything's gonna
get done so I mean I did
thought people working from home was
gonna be terrible I thought that was a
bad idea I thought that would never work
but since there was a shutdown I was
forced to challenge that I was proven
wrong so clearly people can work from
home maybe a lot of the corporate
executives say so now they're forced to
say well why are we paying 80,000 a
month for office space when we can pay
30 anywhere else and it's nicer yeah I
don't get that at all or just so there's
gonna be a lot of people that leave the
city a lot of companies that leave the
city because they figured out they can
get work done without having to be here
which is gonna mean less opportunity for
the people that are here less customers
for the businesses that choose to stay
here which means they're gonna leave I
really do think that New York City is
going to be on the downswing and the
thing that's sad here is I'm not saying
I have a solution for any of this to be
clear I'm the idol I I don't have a
solution I'm trying to prescribe a
solution I just don't see where any of
this gets better and that makes me kind
of sad so yeah I'll see you all later