On Saturday, March 8, in honor of International Women’s Day, hundreds of nurses, caregivers, community activists, union members and elected officials, including state Sen. Adriano Espaillat, City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, City Council Member Ben Kallos and City Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez, held a march and rally on the Upper East Side to tell the Koch brothers that all New Yorkers need quality health care.
With organizations like 1199SEIU, the New York State Nurses Association, the NAACP New York State Conference and the National Organization for Women and Community Voices Heard, the group set up shop in front of the new David H. Koch Center, a part of the New York Presbyterian system that cost $2 billion to construct.
“If there isn’t going to be any justice, there isn’t going to be any peace,” said Minerva Solla, executive vice president of 1199SEIU, in a statement. “Today, we are standing up to tell the Koch brothers that all New Yorkers deserve quality health care, not just the super rich. The campaigns they fund are harmful to women and all working people.”
Rally attendants also made their way to a Chase Bank branch on the corner of 72nd Street and York Avenue. The groups then concluded their protest outside of 740 Park Ave., where David Koch lives in his luxury apartment.
Over the past several years, the Koch brothers have spent an estimated $235 million to fight reproductive rights in states across America. Jill Furillo, executive director of the New York State Nurses Association, said the Koch brothers are one of the major participants in maintaining gender inequality.
“This International Women’s Day, we’ve focused on the Koch brothers and their multimillion-dollar campaign against women’s right to reproductive health,” said Furillo in a statement. “Closing the chapter on women’s inequality is key to ending the ‘Tale of Two Cities,’ a story being told across the country. It’s a story for the history books.”