Warren in Village cites Triangle fi re
BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELLDOMENECH
Thousands of people packed
Washington Square Park Monday
evening to listen to presidential
candidate Elizabeth Warren speak
under its iconic arch about how ending
political corruption would be central to
her presidency.
Before speaking, Senator Warren
was introduced by Maurice Mitchell,
the national director of the Working
Families Party. On Monday, the party
announced its endorsement of Warren
over Bernie Sanders, who the organization
supported in the 2016 presidential
election.
Warren began her speech with a New
York-specifi c example of the devastating
impact of corruption, by speaking
about the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist factory
fi re. The topic was particularly
relevant given the speech’s location:
The fi re that killed 146 garment workers
occurred on Washington Place just
a half-block east of the park. Most of
those who perished were poor immigrant
women.
“For years, across the city, women
factory workers and their allies had
been sounding alarms about dangerous
and squalid conditions, fi ghting for
shorter hours and higher pay,” Warren
said. “Everyone knew about these problems,
but the fat profi ts were making
New York’s factory owners rich and
they had no plans to give that up.”
Warren added that those businesses
owners used their political clout to
block improvements for working conditions.
“Business owners got richer, politicians
Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren appealed to women voters in her speech about ending
political corruption by telling the story of the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire and of how, after the tragedy,
female workers and U.S. Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins worked to reform the state’s labor laws.
became more powerful and the
working people paid the price,” she
said. “Does any of this sound familiar?”
The crowd of “Warren” blue-signwaving
supporters erupted in shouts in
cheers.
The candidate then urged supporters
PHOTO BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELL-DOMENECH
not to be afraid to join efforts at big
structural change in order to create a
government free from corruption.
PHOTO BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELL-DOMENECH
Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou, left, and state Senator Alessandra
Biaggi also spoke at Elizabeth Warren’s rally in Washington Square
Park.
PHOTO BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELL-DOMENECH
Elizabeth Warren, fired up in Washington Square, told the crowd that
now is the time for change and rooting out corruption in government.
6 September 19, 2019 TVG Schneps Media