Could the city best known as the home of Wall Street divest from major corporate banks and start its own public bank? That’s the vision that a new network of activist groups hope see in the near future.

On Tuesday, a coalition of progressive organizations in New York City gathered in front of the New York Stock Exchange to launch a new effort to get the city to divest from Wall Street banks and create a new public bank for the public good.

“It’s a really simple concept: New York City has billions of dollars of public money every year that flow through the city coffers, and that money by law has to be held at Wall Street banks,” Sarah Ludwig, founder and co-director of the New Economy Project, said. “And the Wall Street banks that are holding the public’s money are actively harming New Yorkers, harming New York communities, harming the planet, etc.”