I tried out Kendall Roy’s tragic Battery Park walk from ‘Succession’ after picketing with the Insider Union — but it only made me feel more assured in our decision to strike
Who among us hasn’t felt a little bit like the world is ending while sitting in Battery Park? Palmer Haasch
I picketed with the Insider Union on the first day of our strike.
Afterward, I walked to Battery Park, where the final moments of ‘Succession” took place.
Instead of feeling utterly broken like Kendall, I felt full of energy.
Before Kendall Roy made it cool, I frequently sat my ass down on a bench in Battery Park and quietly had a breakdown while gazing out at New York Harbor.
It's a rite of passage for any Financial District employee to collect themselves while walking around The Battery, and as someone who has worked in the neighborhood since I first came to New York City, I’m intimately familiar with all the best spots to cry amid throngs of tourists. Sometimes though, on better days, gazing out toward the water made you feel a bit like you were standing on the precipice of something great.
It was no surprise that, after picketing with fellow members of the Insider Union on Friday after we went on an Unfair Labor Practice, or ULP, strike, I found myself walking from One Liberty Plaza, down Broadway, and to the park. This time, though, I did so in a post-'“Succession” finale world.
Warning: Major spoilers for the series finale of “Succession” ahead.
“Succession” is always a bit of a mind-trip as a media worker
If you didn’t watch “Succession” — you’re reading a media union’s strike publication and you don’t watch “Successio”n lol? — here’s a TL;DR: Kendall Roy, the most-special sort-of-eldest boy of the Roy family, fails to win a board vote that would have sunk an acquisition deal and left him as CEO. All of the Roy siblings lost, but Kendall lost the most. In the final moments of the show, he walks through Battery Park and gazes out at the water before settling on a bench.
Watching “Succession” as a rank-and-file media worker has always been a slightly silly, goofy time. I had the utter misfortune of catching up on the show in early 2021, and watched the season two episode “Vaulter” a few days before our union went public. As a refresher, that’s the episode where Kendall tells the episode’s titular digital-media site’s staff to cut out all that union stuff and stop “flirting with the Guild” before unceremoniously shuttering the entire publication on his dad’s orders.
The “Succession” finale, which aired on HBO and Max five days before we went on strike, wasn’t quite that on the nose. But picketing at Insider’s Financial District office, itself only a few blocks from 28 Liberty Street — which the show uses as the Waystar RoyCo office exterior — indubitably made me think about Kendall’s walk of shame.
He could be doing better. HBO
Ultimately, holding a physical picket line with my coworkers only made me feel empowered
The decision to strike wasn’t an easy one. Striking members of our union are missing out on paychecks (you can donate to our hardship fund here), and personally, I would have loved to be back online to cover the new episode of “The Kardashians” that’s out today.
But on Friday, as I meandered toward the park, I felt high on the adrenaline of chanting myself hoarse and marching myself sweaty on the picket line with my coworkers. There’s something harrowing and intoxicating about physically holding a picket line with your colleagues: these are people that I organized the Union with, who I’ve made countless silly TikToks with, who I’ve heard share testimonials during bargaining, and who I co-byline stories and commiserate over drinks with.
It’s a nice view! Palmer Haasch
On a bench in the park, covered in sunscreen and wearing a baseball cap à-la Kendall Roy, I didn’t feel despair — though a contract, and a resolution to our ULP, would be pretty sick. Instead, the act of standing with my union colleagues and the strength that we have heartened me. In that moment, looking out at the water, I got the good Battery Park feeling — like this was an auspicious beginning, not a moment of despondency.
Business Outsider is a strike publication of Insider Union, which is a unit of The NewsGuild of New York.
Follow our Twitter for updates on the strike, and if you enjoyed this content and would like to throw in some cash for our members who are losing wages every day that we strike for a fair contract, feel free to visit our hardship fundraiser here. Want to help us tell the boss to reach a deal? Let Nich Carlson and Henry Blodget know you support us by sending a letter.