Climate Activists Block Entrance To Teterboro Airport

TETERBORO, NJ — "As billionaires keep flying, the Earth is dying! As billionaires keep flying, the Earth is dying!" — protesters collectively chanted these words to the clap of a snare drum Thursday at Teterboro Airport.

Approximately 15 to 20 climate activists blocked the main entrance to the country's busiest private airport in a protest against private jet emissions and pollution to, in short, demand a ban on private jets. Additionally, the protestors called out, they said, what they see as the "outsized impact" of the world's wealthiest in driving climate change.

"The rich cross the country in private jets while normal people are suffering from a massive cost-of-living crisis," Alice Hu, a climate campaigner with New York Communities for Change, said.

Seven of the protesters were arrested by members of the Port Authority Police Department, which oversees the airport, PAPD spokesperson Lenis Valens said. Those arrested face pending charges of interference, disorderly conduct and criminal trespassing.

Employees and customers were rerouted to avoid the protest, PAD said.

As part of a global campaign, protesters from Hu's organization and the New York City chapter of Sunrise Movement, on Thursday, joined other "private airport shutdowns" in 13 countries around the world, Hu said.

Teterboro is a popular private airport in the region, with more than 62,000 departures just last year. In a Tweet, the New York Communities for Change said that "A-listers" fly to Teterboro all the time, sometimes multiple times a week.

"Meanwhile," the organization said, "average New Yorkers are facing skyrocketing housing costs."

Hu said that she and the other protesters are also calling on "decision-makers," such as New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, to "make polluters pay" by setting a wealth tax to fund green-home improvements for all.

"We need clean air, not another billionaire. We need clean air, not another billionaire," the protesters also chanted as they demonstrated outside the airport.