The Democratic mayor of New York, who also plans to challenge Donald Trump in 2020, on Monday organized a small demonstration inside the Trump Tower, the iconic skyscraper of the New York magnate on the 5e Avenue in Manhattan.
Mayor Bill de Blasio took over the interior of the building – a public space open to all – with several dozen supporters, to denounce the carbon footprint of this 58-storey skyscraper, among the most polluting in the American financial capital.
Three weeks after the adoption of a law obliging buildings over 2300 m2 to reduce their emissions by 40% by 2030, the mayor thus intended to pose as a leader in the fight against both global warming and Donald Trump.
“We passed a law that requires buildings to stop their destructive emissions, and it starts with this building, Trump Tower,” he said, in front of the escalators where Donald Trump launched his campaign for the presidential election in June 2015.
According to de Blasio, the Trump Tower alone could cost the president some $ 500,000 in annual fines if he does not take action to comply with the new law.
And all of its eight New York skyscrapers could cost it a total of $ 2.1 million in fines, says the town hall.
“This is my message to President Trump: Don’t mess around in our city. […] Respect New Yorkers, follow what’s going on in your hometown, fix your buildings, and while you’re at it, change your policy, and get back to the Paris Agreement [sur le climat]Added Mr. de Blasio, calling the president a “climate change denier”.
But the mayor struggled to make himself heard: around twenty supporters of the Republican president had planned a small but noisy counter-demonstration, going up and down the escalators, holding up signs denouncing “the worst mayor. [que New York ait jamais eu]Or simply “Trump 2020”.
Bill de Blasio said he would announce “this week” whether or not he was going to step into the arena for the presidential election.
Although he’s been testing the waters for months, the polls are very unfavorable to him, even among New Yorkers. The last, dating from the beginning of April, indicated that 76% of its citizens did not want to see it engage in this battle.
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