Students across New York City crossed the Brooklyn Bridge holding up signs and voicing their concerns about government inaction regarding climate change. The demonstration was one of many youth protests that erupted around the world on March 25 in response to the ongoing climate crisis. The movement called on leaders to take action and acknowledge.
was born and raised.
Residents in these neighborhoods face inordinate environmental health burdens. In 2012, Bushwick had more than twice as many avoidable asthma hospitalizations than Brooklyn did as a whole, according to a city report. Brownsville, where 78% of residents are Black, has the highest adult asthma rates in New York City.
“There’s always been disinvestment in our communities,” Rodriguez says. “This is just gonna make it worse.”
Street closures in Bushwick during National Grid’s North Brooklyn pipeline phase four construction in Brooklyn. Photograph: Erik McGregor/Getty Images Since October, Rodriguez has participated in a series of protests against the project, led by the No North Brooklyn Pipeline Coalition and Frack Outta Brooklyn. The movement received a flurry of media attention earlier this year, when activists effectively shut down construction on the pipeline by chaining themselves to the site, resulting in the arrest of five protesters.