AKIPRESS.COM - Police wearing riot gear clashed with protesters and arrested about 100 activists during an illegal march Monday as hundreds tried to “Flood Wall Street.”

The march against capitalism and “the climate crisis” started as a sit-in protest, with a sea of activists taking over Broadway near the iconic Charging Bull sculpture , where they proudly held aloft a large, inflatable beach ball — painted gray and black with the words, “The Carbon Bubble.” A cop used a knife to deflate the prop.

Cops crushed another ball some 30 minutes later. Two hours in, protesters became angry when cops pepper-sprayed and arrested those who tried to break through barricades to make it to the New York Stock Exchange, the New York Post reported.

The Flood Wall Street march, an extension of Sunday’s People’s Climate March — which brought 300,000 people out to spur action in Washington on climate change — snarled traffic and clogged sidewalks on Broadway all day.

“I don’t think they know what they want,” said Casey Fleming, who couldn’t get to Duane Reade because of the barricades. Marchers headed toward Wall Street at around 4 p.m., only to be met by police armed with pepper spray and plastic handcuffs.

The 100 people arrested near Wall Street, include 25-year-old Elliot Hughes, who climbed a phone booth and was trying to yell out to the crowd. Organizers said they did not obtain a permit, but cops resisted making mass arrests because “the NYPD recognizes the people’s rights to free speech and public protest,” according to a statement.

Local politicians including City Councilmen Ydanis Rodriguez and Jumaane Williams marched alongside the protesters. “People should be able to make money, but not at the expense of hurting people,” Williams said.