Climate Activists Climb JPMorgan Tower Flagpoles, Police say

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — Two climate change activists scaled 40-foot flagpoles in front of JPMorgan Chase's Park Avenue headquarters Monday afternoon and attempted to protest the financial institution's involvement in the fossil fuel industry, police and activists told Patch.

The climbers were brought down from the flagpoles in front of 270 Park Avenue, on the corner of East 47th Street, around 1:15 p.m., an NYPD spokesman said. It is unclear whether the protesters will be arrested or given written citations, the spokesman told Patch.

The activists were part of an organization called the Rainforest Action Network, an organization spokesperson told Patch. The group is protesting JPMorgan Chase's funding of tar sands oil, which produces 20 percent more greenhouse gases than conventional oil, according to a press release.

"JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon talks a big game when it comes to addressing climate change," Tess Geyer, an organizer with Rainforest Action Network, told Patch in a statement. "Dimon says he supports the Paris Agreement — but we’ve followed the money and the facts don’t lie. Chase, as the [No. 1] Wall Street funder of tar sands oil, is profiting off climate change and human rights violations. Simply put, the tar sands sector spells disaster for the environment, climate and Indigenous rights."

Nobody was injured during the protest, an NYPD spokesman said. The protesters were stopped before their banner could be hung on the flagpoles, the spokesman told Patch.

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