On November 22, two days before Thanksgiving, a throng of immigrant workers and supporters packed the sidewalk outside Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Manhattan office to demand that he support a bill to raise state taxes on billionaires to provide economic relief for essential workers excluded from federal aid programs.

“This week, billionaires will feast like kings, while our people have to survive by food lines. Is this fair?” chanted Julissa Bisono, associate director of organizing for Make the Road New York, the immigrant and workers’ rights advocacy organization that organized the rally. The crowd waved signs inscribed with slogans like “Tax the Billionaires, Fund the Workers” and “Stephen Schwarzman Got $2.4 Billion Richer During the Pandemic,” on placards graced with images of Cuomo and the Blackstone billionaire’s faces.

“We know that our governor loves to cook for his family and offers the same to millionaires in the Hamptons, but what about us?” Bisono said, pointing to a mock breadline with essential workers standing behind a table with no bread while next to them sat billionaires feasting.