Of the mass of people congregated outside the Empire State Building yesterday afternoon, 20 or so were not tourists being mesmerized by the light show creating red and yellow hues on the sight-seeing institution. They were protestors. And they were not protesting what they saw as the blatant overexposure of the New York landmark for the sake of tourism, but rather what they saw as a blatant nod to communism.
The lighting was in honor of the 60th Anniversary of the creation of the People's Republic of China; a choice that has evoked reponses from protestors against what they described as "outright, blatant approval for a communist totalitarian system," reports Gothamist. The controversial lighting will be short lived however, as tonight the red and yellow will change over to blue and white in celebration of the 125th Anniversary of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts leaving everyone to find some other reason to protest.
