Several thousand people, including a hefty contingent of Bronx activists, descended on Wall Street last week to denounce the nation’s leading banks, which they believe played a leading role in the nation’s recent economic crisis, and demand financial reform.

“Because we are one country, when greed runs amok on Wall Street, it means lost jobs and shuttered stores on Main Street,” said Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, a federation of labor unions and one of the event’s organizers.

Trumka demanded that “Wall Street, fix the mess” it made and “stop fighting” efforts in Washington to make the banking and financial systems more transparent and accountable.

Dozens of Northwest Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition (NWBCCC) members, young and old, were in attendance. Some held “Reclaim America” and “Hold Banks Accountable” signs. Others carried a giant, homemade squid, in homage to a Rolling Stone writer’s famous claim that Goldman Sachs is a “great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money.”

Adolfo Abreu, a 17-year-old youth leader with Sistas and Brothas United, the youth arm of the NWBCCC, was among those to speak. “With all these [school] budgets cuts, how I am going to succeed in life and obtain the pursuit of happiness?” he asked, in reference to school overcrowding and impending teacher layoffs.

Earlier that afternoon, as part of the same event, some 200 people squeezed into the lobby of 270 Park Ave. in midtown, where JPMorgan Chase is headquartered. With sheepish security guards and curious employees looking on, the protestors began chanting “Bust up big banks” and “Enough is enough.”

JPMorgan Chase was targeted because they charge low-income people fees to use Electronic Benefits Transfer Cards (EBT) and refuse to reduce the amount of money struggling homeowners owe them in mortgage payments, according to National People’s Action, the organizer of the rally.

Next up, the protestors, including NWBCCC members and other community activists, walked a few blocks north where they took over the lobby of a building in which Wells Fargo has offices.

“This isn’t fair. If you want to do this properly, go outside like ladies and gentlemen,” shouted a police officer who entered the lobby behind them — a plea that went unheeded for at least 20 minutes.

Wells Fargo controls the trust which holds the mortgage on a number of Bronx apartment buildings which are in foreclosure because Milbank Real Estate, the private equity firm that owns them, defaulted on its loan. Last month, Legal Services NYC’s Bronx unit filed a lawsuit against the bank and another company in an effort to force them to maintain the buildings. The lawsuit, if successful, could have nationwide implications for tenants and landlords.

After the protest, Graciela Gomez, a Milbank tenant, described conditions inside her crumbling building near the Bronx Zoo. She said the building’s front doors have no locks, the elevators and security cameras are broken, and tenants are often without heat and hot water. The 52-apartment building has 405 housing violations. 

“[We’re here] to make the demand that banks like Wells Fargo stop lending money to bad landlords like Milbank because they don’t take care of the tenants in the buildings.” said Gomez.

James Mumm, the former executive director of the NWBCCC, who now works for National People’s Action, said the surprise visits were part of a “continuing campaign to get the CEOs of the biggest banks in America to meet with the communities they hurt.”

At both banks, protesters left letters requesting a meeting with the CEO and laying out a list of demands, including more protection for families in danger of losing their homes, and investment in local development projects that create jobs

As of Monday, neither bank had responded to the requests, said J. CoCo Chang, a spokesperson for National People’s Action.