Hundreds of protesters gathered outside hedge fund manager Dan Loeb’s residence at 15 Central Park West on Saturday over his donations to Governor Kathy Hochul and support of charter schools.
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Signs such as “tax the rich” were held by the protestors, some of whom held pitchforks while standing outside 15 CPW. A video shows the protesters were met by a building manager who told them they were trespassing on private property, but they did not appear deterred.
“Loeb and his wife have donated $60,000 to governor Hochul, and he’s a major donor to pro-charter school PACs that has also donated to governor Hochul,” shouted one protester into a megaphone. “The governor is putting the interest of her big money donors first at the expense of working class New Yorkers.”
Loeb is the founder and chief executive of Third Point, a hedge fund that manages nearly $15 billion in assets. He has major investments in The Walt Disney Company and Amazon as well as a net worth of $3.5 billion, according to Forbes. Loeb also serves on the board for Success Academy Charter Schools, a charter school operator in NYC.
“We are here today because we’re saying enough to billionaires like Dan Loeb who have more interest in their profits than the education of our public school students,” Kristen Gonzalez, a Democratic member of the NYS Senate who represents parts of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens, said during Saturday’s protest outside 15 Central Park West.
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“This is not a protest. It’s a riot. The rich should pay more taxes, but this is not the way. Nobody’s home should be stormed,” Sam Antar, former CFO of the Crazy Eddie electronics stores, wrote on Twitter.
Loeb graduated from Columbia University in 1983 and maintains a scholarship in his name at the school. Some other notable residents of 15 CPW, which is located between 61st and 62nd streets, have included actors Denzel Washington, Mark Wahlberg, Robert De Niro, Sting, Alex Rodriguez, and NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon.
I’d love to see the protesters get stuck on their pitchforks.
“Man gives millions of dollars that go directly to teachers of Black kids in Central Brooklyn and Harlem.”
“White UWSers p?r?o?t?e?s?t? riot”
Can we have a little more context, please? What the $%^& are these people complaining about, if he’s giving money to schools that need it? It’s not like the B of E has done a stellar job of outfitting schools with what they need to thrive. And really, THIS is who they choose to give up their free time to protest against? Geesh.
They have loads of free time because they generally don’t work. Life without struggle is a life without context.
Likely related to the UFT’s drive to cut off funding and expansion of charter schools in the city. They’ve been relentlessly lobbying in Albany – and with the number of politicians they’ve bought off, stand a really good chance of inflicting damage to NYC charter students this budget season.
They’ve been gunning at the big charter donors to raise the PR heat. Charters in NYS are the most regulated in the nation, almost all are non-profit, and they get kids to college at an outstandingly high rate. But their teachers don’t pay dues – so…
Thanks, that’s very helpful. Would have been great if that was in the story. Sounds selfish on the UFT’s part, but I’m sure there’s four sides to the story.
“When school children start paying union dues, that’s when I’ll start representing the interests of school children.”
— Albert Shanker
Jeeze, who has the time for this nonsense