Greta takes flight from camera crews and crowds
Greta Thunberg’s legion of fans was able to follow her almost 5000km zero-emissions progress across the Atlantic last month using an online tracker.
However, since arriving on dry land in Manhattan, the environmental crusader has tried to lie low. The frustrated crowds desperate to see her do not know where in the city she is basing herself.
‘‘For security reasons, only about two people know where she’s staying,’’ said one official.
The Swedish climate activist’s elusiveness triggered Gretamania whenever the baby-faced 16-year-old was glimpsed on the streets.
About 200 people waited for hours on Thursday to greet Thunberg as she arrived on Malizia II, a racing yacht powered by wind and solar energy, after a two-week voyage from Britain. As the 20m carbonneutral vessel docked next to a vast super-yacht in Lower Manhattan’s North Cove Marina, the cheers began: ‘‘Greta! Greta!’’
Two days later she was mobbed at a climate change protest outside the UN’S headquarters in Midtown.
But it was the hundreds of camera crews from around the world who jostled each other among the ‘‘Make America Greta again’’ posters, crowding out the young supporters who chanted her name and snapped photos of her on their phones. Those stuck at the back clambered onto tables trying to spot a glimpse of their heroine. As the mushrooming protest marched northwards to set up camp opposite a vegetarian cafe called Peace Garden, a chain of adult volunteers encircled Thunberg, who has Asperger’s syndrome, to protect her from overenthusiastic followers and the camera crews.
The Fridays for Future strike is part of the global movement that Thunberg set off last summer when she started skipping school every Friday to protest over governments’ inaction on climate change.
This was the 38th consecutive weekly protest in Manhattan, though none had received much media attention until Thunberg turned up.
Spencer Berg, 16, was buzzing about her arrival in his home city, which is not hailed for its eco-credentials. ‘‘Greta is what inspired me to get into climate activism. To stop being depressed about it and actually do something,’’ he said. ‘‘To me, she represents hope.’’ – Sunday Times