Boisterous Protest Interrupts Bloomberg

It seems as if Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg can’t catch a break these days. On Monday, he was bitten by a groundhog at the Staten Island Zoo. On Tuesday, his keynote speech at a business summit (called the Future of New York City) was interrupted by a boisterous and angry group of protesters.

Mr. Bloomberg was about five minutes into his remarks when at least 100 people barged into the main ballroom at the Grand Hyatt New York hotel in Midtown, holding signs that read, “Mayor Bloomberg, Talk to All New Yorkers,” and chanting, “This is what democracy looks like.”

He stood stone-faced as the protesters filed in and surrounded several of the tables packed with bankers, developers and other business leaders who had paid up to $249 a head to hear him and others speak. (The mayor might have perfected his nonchalance on Monday, when he also managed to remain cool after the groundhog attack.)

One of the protesters, Wanda Imasuen, of the Brooklyn-based organization Families United for Racial and Economic Equality, said that it was the exclusivity of the audience that spurred hers and several other groups representing low-income and immigrant city residents to disrupt the event.

“We don’t have a voice, we’re not at the table and we demand to be at the table,” Ms. Imasuen said. “We demand that the mayor gives us a meeting, not for corporate America to decide the fate of all New Yorkers.”

The mayor’s security detail and, later, uniformed police officers kept the protesters from getting anywhere near Mr. Bloomberg. They were then escorted out and at least inside the hotel. (Update: At first an organizer said there had been no arrests, but the police later confirmed reports from witnesses — see the comments below — that eight of the protesters were charged.)

The protest was organized by the Right to the City Coalition, an alliance of grass-roots groups. It was unclear how they were able to enter the hotel undetected, as they had been stationed outside for at least an hour before Mr. Bloomberg took to the stage.

Asked after his speech about the protesters’ claims that the poor were being left out of discussions on the future of the city, Mr. Bloomberg said: “I would suggest just if they feel that way, the ways to influence the dialogue is hardly to walk in and disrupt someone’s speech.”

He added: If you don’t like wealthy people or successful, attractive businesses, then you don’t have a tax base. We’re really all in this together.”