NY, New York – Thursday night, the Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC) used a brutal NYPD crackdown to attack over 100 women-of-color home care workers picketing outside its decadent 60th Anniversary fundraising gala at Cipriani on Wall Street, committing 7 arrests — including that of a pregnant woman and a 60-year-old senior.
“Tonight we have over a hundred of fellow home care workers protesting,” said Ai Yu Zeng, a home care worker who was arrested. “All we’re doing is exposing CPC’s lies! We’re condemning their abuse of us immigrant women with continued 24-hour workdays. Now, CPC not only refuses to pay us back the $90 million stolen wages, but even calls the police to arrest me on the spot! When young people saw that and condemned the police’s violence against me, they, in turn, were also arrested. How evil!”
While many home care agencies have already implemented split shifts, CPC still assigns 24-hour home care shifts and just received contracts worth $7 billion a year from Governor Kathy Hochul to monopolize the consumer-direct home care market in NYC, Long Island, and Westchester. Protestors were peacefully picketing on the sidewalk when CPC sent violent cops to suppress protesters and arrest elderly Asian home attendants.
“Cops moved in shortly after CPC sent someone to rob a journalist of her live-streaming phone from mid-air, so as to abruptly shut down the media coverage of the protest,” said Sarah Ahn, who was also arrested. “Cops went after the elderly Asian women home attendants and the young people who were using their phones to document the arrests!”
Photos show CPC Chief of Staff Alice Wong sent a thug to violently snatch a journalist’s phone and walk into the gala with it so the brutal arrests could not be recorded. The perpetrator was Ken Paskar, friend of the corrupt former Assembly Member Sheldon Silver and CPC’s lawyer Alan Gerson. Under people’s continuous outcry over police’s protection of CPC, the police were eventually pressured to arrest Ken Paskar. High-level elected officials crossing the picket line included Chuck Schumer and Grace Meng. 
(Ken Paskar, who was sent by CPC to snatch the reporter’s phone, was arrested)
“This is CPC’s true face, as they think they are above the law with Governor Hochul’s backing. They’re also run by a board that consists 90% of bank, real estate, and insurance company executives. Instead of paying back wage theft, they are raising more money with their allies of casinos, DoorDash, and lobbyists to oppress immigrant communities,” said Kathy Lu, a working mother who was also arrested.
CPC’s violent repression did the opposite of stopping the protest, as home attendants and supporters became more determined and continued to protest for more than an hour, and their furious chants were heard all over Wall Street. The protesters ended by strongly condemning the unlawful crackdown. They also called on everyone to join the protest on March 12 at 11am in front of Governor Hochul’s office (919 3rd Ave) to demand she stop colluding with CPC, enforce the law to pay back stolen wages and end the 24-hour workdays.
