FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 19 ARRESTED CALLING ON GOV HOCHUL TO TAX THE RICH
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: THURS, APRIL 23
CONTACT: ella@nycdsa.org, (929) 359-0917
“Our Lives or Your Donors”: 19 Arrested at Governor Hochul’s Office Calling to Tax the Rich, Protect Medicaid
Dozens of elected officials and New Yorkers impacted by cuts to healthcare, public services occupied the Governor’s Midtown office on Thursday
NEW YORK, NY — Nineteen people were arrested on Thursday afternoon after over 75 activists and elected officials occupied New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s Midtown, Manhattan office to protest looming Medicaid cuts and call for the Governor to tax the rich. NYC-DSA candidates for the New York State Legislature Illapa Sairitupac, Conrad Blackburn, and Samantha Kattan were arrested. Elected officials including State Senators Jabari Brisport and Julia Salazar participated.
Over one million New Yorkers are set to lose healthcare due to Trump’s cuts if Governor Hochul fails to deliver a budget that taxes the rich and funds Medicaid and the public Essential Plan. Cuts to SNAP benefits will cause over 300,000 to go hungry. The biggest Medicaid cuts in history will devastate hundreds of thousands of home care workers, older adults, and people with disabilities. And our state’s progress on delivering universal childcare and Mayor Mamdani’s affordability agenda will be hamstrung without taxes on the rich. New Yorkers who are directly impacted put their bodies on the line to ask Governor Hochul and lawmakers to meet the urgency of the moment and tax the rich.
“Today I proudly stood with dozens of New Yorkers and put my body on the line to demand that Governor Hochul tax the rich, because I know what it’s like to be poor, hungry, and live without health insurance. This isn’t theoretical. This isn’t radical. Taxing the rich is the ONLY way we can save over 1 million New Yorkers who are about to lose healthcare and 300,000 who will go hungry without SNAP benefits due to Trump’s budget cuts. I hope the Governor treats this emergency with the urgency it demands and taxes the rich this budget cycle,” said Conrad Blackburn, candidate for New York Assembly District 70 who was arrested on Thursday.
“Governor Hochul is once again putting her wealthy donors ahead of millions of working-class New Yorkers who are about to lose their healthcare, SNAP, and other essential services. We are already struggling in an era of unprecedented costs-of-living and economic inequality. The answer is clear: we must tax the rich and fund the services that we need,” said Illapa Sairitupac, candidate for Assembly District 65 who was arrested.
“I’m a new mom, and I want to be able to afford to raise my daughter in Queens. I want all families to have healthcare and childcare and affordable rent, and that’s why I’m running for State Assembly: because we need to tax the rich to do it. Hochul needs to stop siding with Trump on cutting half a million New Yorkers’ healthcare — we need a state budget that taxes the rich to make New York affordable,” said Samantha Kattan, candidate for Assembly District 37 in Queens who was arrested on Thursday.
“I rely on Medicaid for home care – it’s literally the only way I’m able to stay in my own home and community. Medicaid allows me to have aides who help me get out of bed in the morning and go to work. No other insurance covers home care. The federal cuts to Medicaid are life threatening to me. We are just seeing the beginning of them this year and expect the worst cuts to come next year. Governor Hochul needs to decide whether she is going to continue to protect her billionaire donors or stand up and protect every day New Yorkers like me whose lives are at stake,” said Iris Jimenez, a leader with New York Caring Majority and the Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled.
“I could die if Hochul doesn’t protect my healthcare,” said Olivia Killingsworth, an NYC-DSA member who was arrested on Thursday. “I have a connective tissue disorder & the NYPD’s zip ties will put me in immense pain, but I’m putting myself on the line to save my healthcare. Hochul needs to stop the cuts and tax the rich.”
“New Yorkers are struggling. Generations of residents are being priced out, families are living paycheck to paycheck, and now, too many are about to lose lifesaving healthcare – all while the wealthy get wealthier. Tax the rich.” said State Senator Julia Salazar.
“Today I joined working-class New Yorkers to occupy Governor Kathy Hochul’s office because our neighbors are being told to accept crumbs while billionaires get richer. We’re told there’s no money. But New York is richer than ever. The wealth is just hoarded at the top. In the World’s Borough, we see the cost of that every day: families skipping meals, people avoiding ambulances, seniors losing home care. We can’t afford inaction. It’s time to tax the rich and invest in our communities,” said Aber Kawas, candidate for New York State Senate District 12.