Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) -- New York officials say they expect tens of thousands of demonstrators when Occupy Wall Street surrounds the New York Stock Exchange and takes its protest against economic inequality into the subway system today.
Activists intend to "raise a ruckus and clog up the works" in Lower Manhattan's financial district, said Mark Bray, a spokesman for Occupy Wall Street.
"We are certainly anticipating tens of thousands of people protesting, aimed at significant disruption," said Howard Wolfson, Mayor Michael Bloomberg's deputy for government relations, at a City Hall briefing yesterday. "Our forces will be deployed accordingly."
The rally follows the group's loss of its two-month campsite at Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan on Nov. 15, when police evicted protesters and cleared away their tents, tarps and sleeping bags. Demonstrators will gather at the park today at 7 a.m. to march to Wall Street, then fan out through the subways, ending with a 5 p.m. crossing of the Brooklyn Bridge.
"It's time we put an end to Wall Street's reign of terror and begin building an economy that works for all," the group said on its website. Demonstrators will "confront Wall Street with the stories of people on the front lines of economic injustice. There, before the stock exchange, we will exchange stories rather than stocks."
'The 99 Percent'
The Occupy Wall Street protests, which began in New York Sept. 17, has spread to cities on four continents, including London, Sydney, Toronto, Rome and Tokyo. The demonstrators refer to themselves as "the 99 percent," a reference to Nobel Prize- winning economist Joseph Stiglitz's study showing the richest 1 percent control 40 percent of U.S. wealth.
New York City police in riot gear swept into the Zuccotti encampment in the privately owned public park beginning around 1 a.m. on Nov. 15th. City cleaning crews in orange vests hauled away dumpsters full of the camp's remains.
About 200 people were arrested, police said. Among them were journalists and Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, a north Manhattan Democrat, who said he was thrown to the ground while attending as an observer.
After the raid, lawyers for the demonstrators failed to convince a judge to reverse the eviction.
"The court's ruling vindicates our position that First Amendment rights do not include the right to endanger the public or infringe on the rights of others by taking over a public space," Bloomberg said in a statement. "Zuccotti Park will remain open to all who want to enjoy it, as long as they abide by the park's rules."
The mayor is founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP.
Oakland, Portland
Camps have also been shut down by officials in cities including Oakland, California, and Portland, Oregon. A judge yesterday ordered Boston to refrain from removing protesters from Dewey Square until Dec. 1.
Protesters in New York said they remained unbowed by the city's move to ban sleeping bags, tarps and tents. More than 150 had regrouped in the park with umbrellas yesterday as rain blanketed the city.
"We've all realized that the movement's a lot more than just a physical occupation," Julien Harrison, a former college teaching assistant from Georgia, said by telephone. He said he's camped at the park sporadically since the occupation began.
'The Best Thing'
Expulsion from the park "was the best thing that could have happened to us strategically" because "it looks bad for a system that continually uses violence against non-violence," said Daniel Zetah, 35, from Minnesota, who's slept in the park most nights. "It's going to galvanize people" and inspire large numbers to attend today's events, he said in a telephone interview.
After "sleeping on granite in a very loud environment, the threat of staying in jail for a night or two is no longer a threat," Zetah said. Last month, police halted a march over the Brooklyn Bridge and took hundreds of activists into custody for blocking traffic.
The city has spent $6 million on protest-related costs, excluding the Nov. 15 raid, said Wolfson and Caswell Holloway, deputy mayor for operations. Protesters won't be allowed to camp at any other city parks, Wolfson said.
"Our goal is to ensure that the city continues to run, that essential services get provided to get to and from work," Holloway said yesterday at the briefing. "Public safety is first and foremost."
Nationwide Protest
New York's demonstrators will be joined by advocacy groups, the Service Employees International Union and the AFL-CIO in a "nationwide 'We Are The 99%' day of action," Daniel Mintz, campaign director of MoveOn.org, said in an e-mailed statement. The online organization was started in opposition to President Bill Clinton's impeachment and became an advocate for overhauling health care.
Protests in almost every state will call on members of a congressional supercommittee looking for spending reductions "to protect vital programs like Medicare and Social Security, and finally make the super-rich pay their fair share instead of supporting a deal chock full of job-killing cuts," Mintz said.
--With assistance from Chris Dolmetsch in New York, Charles Stein in Boston and Alison Vekshin in San Francisco. Editors: Pete Young, Ted Bunker
To contact the reporters on this story: Esme E. Deprez in New York at edeprez@bloomberg.net; Charles Mead in New York at cmead11@bloomberg.net; Henry Goldman in New York at hgoldman@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Tannenbaum at mtannen@bloomberg.net
Source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/11/16/bloomberg_articlesLUSAXD6K50XV.DTL#ixzz1dwLxhuhK
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