The Brooklyn Ink » protest

Coney Islanders Rally Against Education Budget Cuts

Esteban Illades — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 01:26:43 +0000

Students, teachers, parents and local union members marched Wednesday through Coney Island to protest state and city budget cuts to education.

Protestors hold signs at Coney Island march on Wednesday afternoon (Esteban Illades / The Brooklyn Ink)

The coalition was made up of approximately 70 people who braved the wind and cold.

Under the banner of “Budget Cuts Hurt Our Schools”, Mike Schirtzer, the organizer and a History teacher at Leon M. Goldstein High School, said that the march was “a pro-student rally.” Schirtzer said that his school has had to eliminate many after-school programs, advanced placement classes, and just the number of classes in general. “Students have holes in their schedules in the middle of the day, and they don’t get four-years worth of math and science” he said.

Students were the most vocal. Changing the lyrics to an old Twisted Sister song, they sang, “You can’t cut our budget anymore!”.

One of the singers turned bright red when another student recorded her with her phone.

Jessica Kallo, a 16-year old who attends Goldstein High School, complained in particular about the budget for science and math classes. “Our high school focuses on math and science. It’s absurd that that’s what they’re cutting!” she said.

She was worried that this might damage her application to college.

“We want to raise awareness,” said Kit Wainer, a social studies teacher. “There is a [state] legislature meeting in spring [about the education budget], and Mayor Bloomberg has already announced more budget cuts.”

Mike Schirtzer, a Brooklyn history teacher and protest organizer at Wednesday' s march (Esteban Illades / The Brooklyn Ink)

The march was peaceful and protesters were upbeat. The march started at the corner opposite of Nathan’s restaurant, near the boardwalk, and ended in front of Abraham Lincoln High School, where a small rally was held.

Upon arrival, a small stepladder was brought out and representatives from different groups took turns speaking. Almost all of the protestors wore bright orange stickers on their shirts. “Some cuts don’t heal,” read the stickers. A few students from Lincoln High joined the event.

Howard Schoor, Brooklyn Representative for the United Federation of Teachers, said that the budget for local public schools has been cut 13 percent over the last three years and that about 7,000 teachers in New York City have been laid off. “They say ‘cutback’, we say ‘fight back’,” he shouted through a megaphone. He said that this struggle was part of a larger one, and made a passing reference to the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Members of the Transport Workers Union (Chapters 100 and 101) were also present. The representatives from the 101 pledged the support of their 1,500 members to the coalition. Tim Schermerhorn, from Local 100 and a protest veteran, called it “the beginning of a long struggle.”

Kit Wainer, a social studies teacher and the rally's co-organizer (Esteban Illades / The Brooklyn Ink)

The last speaker was Farin Kautz, 23, a student at CUNY’s Kingsborough Community College. Kingsborough teachers and students have been participating in ongoing protests against tuition increases.

“It’s ironic… While you’re getting your budget cut, we’re getting tuition hikes,” Kautz told the crowd.

Hundreds Rally Against CUNY Tuition Hike

Olivia B. Waxman — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 15:04:58 +0000

As the City University of New York’s (CUNY) Board of Trustees voted Monday to raise tuition, students and professors took to the streets in protest. For nearly four hours, protesters rallied outside Baruch College, marched around the block and stormed Third and Lexington avenues.

The shouts and jeers didn’t stop the Trustees from raising tuition $300 annually for the next five years. Currently, the in-state price tag of CUNY’s four-year colleges is $5,130, but by 2015, undergraduates will be shelling out $6,330 per year.

Andrew Katz and Olivia Waxman asked CUNY students and professors about the sacrifices, if any, they’ll have to make now:

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In July, the New York State legislature authorized CUNY and State University of New York to raise tuition $300 annually for full-time, in-state undergraduates at the senior colleges over the next five years, and proportionately for graduate, doctoral, and non-residents at the senior and community colleges, beginning fall 2011. New York politicians and CUNY Chancellor Matthew Goldstein have hailed the planned tuition increases as a step that provides stability and much-needed revenue to a university whose operating budget has been slashed by $300 million in the last four years.

“In some years there were very steep tuition increases—15, 20, even 30 percent—while in other years, sometimes over a period of consecutive years, there would be no tuition increases,” Goldstein said in an Aug. 9 statement. The hikes are expected to generate $50 million in revenue for CUNY just after the first year. Whether students will pay the tuition increases depends on how much aid they receive from the state’s Tuition Assistance Program; students who receive the maximum amount will not have to pay the new tuition, for instance.

But CUNY students are not the only ones feeling the pinch. A College Board study published last month found that average tuition and fees at public four-year colleges nationwide have grown faster than those at private universities for the fifth straight year. In fact, several CUNY schools boast some of the lowest net prices among public, four-year colleges across the country, according to the U.S. Department of Education’s College Affordability and Transparency Center.

Yet, even the most modest increases may be too taxing for a student body that is already cash-strapped. Fifty-four percent of CUNY undergraduates come from families that make less than $30,000 annually, and nearly 60 percent rely on state and federal financial aid to pay for school, according to the Professional Staff Congress, the union that represents CUNY faculty. Forty-four percent are first-generation college students, and 74 percent are students of color.

For Occupy Wall Street, the Honeymoon is Over

Andrew Katz — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 18:00:45 +0000

Andrew Katz / The Brooklyn Ink

It took mere hours on Nov. 15 for hundreds of New York Police Department officers, under the orders of Mayor Michael Bloomberg for what he claimed to be deteriorating health and safety concerns, to tear down the encampment that protestors spent eight weeks constructing in a privately owned public space that they called home.

But just a few days after more than 200 protestors were arrested during a “Day of Action” that marked Occupy Wall Street’s two-month anniversary, the question of how the movement became so vulnerable to an attack lingers.

Protestors were initially portrayed as a nascent movement that objected to what they deemed to be unfair bank regulations, but as the weeks passed and the spotlight turned to the voices of the radicals and clashes with the police, the occupiers were ever more characterized as a purposeless group. A Nov. 16 poll by Public Policy Polling showed support among voters was waning, too.

Man Bartlett, an artist and part-time occupier from Bushwick, said it was only natural that the public lost interest and the conversation grew stale. “Like with any new relationship, in the initial phase will be a lot of excitement and a lot of support. As the movement develops and continues to grow, that initial honeymoon period will be over,” he said. “Once the story wasn’t ‘What are the demands?’ the story became more about ‘What are the internal struggles that the movement was having?”

Occupiers survived their first, temporary expulsion by the park’s owner, Brookfield Properties, on Oct. 14, but issues larger than sanitation began to take precedence over the following weeks. Zuccotti Park had become a breeding ground for problems the protestors could have avoided without a physical location.

The General Assembly doubled in time but halved in efficiency and its consensus-based form of decision-making, led by a team of rotating facilitators who spoke loudly and used hand gestures to move through agendas, began drawing fewer occupiers. A drifter could attend the open meeting and have as much say as an occupier in how thousands of dollars were spent. This ultimately led to the creation of the Spokes Council, which is essentially a smaller assembly that deals primarily with finances and logistics. Other issues in the park, including a sexual assault and reported drug use, as well as infighting between some of the more than 80 working groups also flared.

Alec Vincent, a 21-year-old occupier and culinary school dropout from Bay Ridge who made his living at Zuccotti as a shoe shiner, attributed the squabbling to the park’s hippie-homeless vibe and a visible difference between occupiers’ backgrounds. “Even though we’re all on the same socioeconomic level, there’s a class distinction,” he said. “I’m more afraid of an outbreak of violence within the park than from police.”

Eight hours before being ousted, Vincent said eviction wasn’t likely but acknowledged that the emergence of a visible hierarchy had begun to elevate tensions between occupiers. “There’s always leaders. You can’t not have leaders,” he said. “They’re just not official.”

A member of the occupation’s security team, Freddy Cepeda, of Bushwick, saw a leadership core materializing but thought eviction was inevitable because the park had become too unstable. “There’s people that were there for the right reasons and there were people that were there for the wrong reasons,” said Cepeda, 26. “It was just too much.”

At its peak, Occupy Wall Street raised more than $500,000 and drew 10,000 protestors for a demonstration in Times Square in mid-October. Thousands more took the streets in, among other cities, London, Berlin, Tel Aviv and Rome.

But as winter has crept closer, the occupiers erected so many tents that it became difficult to walk through the one-block park. The protestors had outgrown a home they were never entitled to and the mayor wanted to act before the situation worsened. So less than two days after similar occupations in Portland and Oakland were dismantled and the press was largely barred from reporting the raids, he gave the orders to take Zuccotti.

Bartlett, 30, called the move “deeply problematic” but wasn’t shocked the eviction finally happened. For nearly two months, he watched the movement’s initial concern of the bank bailout ramifications erode due to escalating problems within the park and the meaning of the “We are the 99 percent” becoming largely misunderstood.

“The problem is that not just that the disparity exists, but that the percentage of that one percent that is really exploiting the system and exploiting a huge percentage of the American public,” said Bartlett, who was arrested during the Wall Street demonstrations last Thursday and later pleaded guilty to one count of disorderly conduct. “And it’s difficult to put that into a tagline.”

He added that the movement that began with a tweet from Adbusters had become more structured and self-regulated. Long gone are the days when one “mic check” would be echoed by all of Zuccotti Park and the nights when hundreds of occupiers attended a general assembly that took only one hour. The leaders that few would acknowledge even existed had enacted enough rules that the city within a city was slowly, and publicly, crumbling so that only Guy Fawkes masks and NYPD barricades would be left.

From all this, it’s clear that Occupy Wall Street is down but not out—at least not yet. The movement is sitting on nearly $450,000 and still has encampments in major cities and college campuses across the country. Occupiers lost their park, but they’re staying in the public eye through coverage of how police officers treat the press and students, social media and smaller events, like the recent drum circle outside the mayor’s residence.

The occupation’s immediate future in New York isn’t set in stone. It’s regrouping, analyzing the past two months and hashing out a next move. For one, protestors gathered Sunday night at Duarte Square and organizers announced both a new “tenting” initiative and a plan to eventually take the space.

>>More on this story

NYPD evict protesters from Zuccotti Park
Where are the Intellectuals? An Essay on Occupy Wall Street
Masters of the Message for “Leaderless” OWS

A Rally for Muslim Rights Echoes Occupy Wall Street and the Arab Spring

Rose D'souza — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 03:36:40 +0000

Muslim Protestors praying in Foley Square on Friday afternoon. Photo by Rose D'souza

Dozens of people gathered at Foley Square Friday to protest against the NYPD, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg for allegedly systematically spying on New York Muslims after the September 11 attacks.

Today’s rally was the first organized protest since the Associated Press published its investigations of the infiltration program last August. The story alleged that a CIA official, David Cohen, organized a secret police squad that infiltrated the city’s Muslim communities. The police department denied the program’s existence.

Various aspects of Muslims life were monitored by the undercover unit, which allegedly targeted Muslims who Americanized their names and tracked the Internet activity of Muslim student organizations.

Today, many of the protestors at Foley Square made the direct connection between the NYPD infiltration program and the messages of Occupy Wall Street.

“We support Occupy Wall Street. We support the [protest against] illegal surveillance of the Muslim community and really the entire community at large,” says Arasalan Ghelieh. “These issues are completely intertwined and we’re proud to be part of all of them.”

Ghelieh, 28, is a New York lawyer with the National Lawyers Guild, an organization that supports both the Occupy Wall Street and Muslim protests.

“The Muslim community is part of the 99%. The Muslim community has for years dealt with the same issues that the occupiers are now dealing with, including increased police presence and the illegal surveillance,” Ghelieh adds.

In Friday’s rally, called nearly 3 months after the revelations, Imam Talib Abdur-Rashid led the crowd in afternoon prayers. Non-Muslim protestors stood around holding signs of support for Muslim equality. Other signs demanded the end of ethnic and religious profiling from the NYPD and CIA.

Protestors marched against the NYPD's alleged surveillance program targeting Muslims. Photo by Rose D'souza.

Perhaps no one at the rally better understood the importance of protecting Muslim civil rights than Gigi Ibrahim. Ibrahim, 25, is also known as @Gsquare86, a social media identity that brought her international attention because of her activist role in the Egyptian revolution and Arab Spring.

Ibrahim had been invited to New York City as a guest speaker at forums held at Amnesty International and Columbia University yesterday. She said she heard about the rally from a friend and wanted to attend.

“I’m really proud about the [rally’s] turnout. It’s really great, even if it’s small in the eyes of the people. But this will gain momentum. With what’s happening around it with the Occupy Wall Street movement and what’s happening in the world, we can definitely expect the pressure from below.”

Ibrahim says that she hopes today’s protestors can learn from what happened in Arab Spring and realize that ordinary citizens have the power to hold authority figures accountable for their actions.

“The people have every right and actually the responsibility to act and change the status quo. We’ve seen it happen all over the world that this is becoming the model for change. This is how you bring about change.”

Like the Arab Spring and the two-month-old Occupy Wall Street protests, there was a significant youth presence at the Foley Square rally, which took place just steps away from the now empty Zucotti Park.

Bay Ridge resident Dania Darwish also believes that there is a strong connection between the two protests. “I’m here today in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement and also with Muslim coalitions,” the 19-year-old student says.

Like many women at the protest, she had a hijab tightly wrapped around her hair, probably protecting her from the blistery winds.

“I’m here because of the spying on Muslims, particularly Brooklyn College. I’m a graduate of Brooklyn College and I don’t think we ever did anything suspicious or anything like that,” says Aziza Al-Taheri, 21, another resident of Bay Ridge, which has one of the largest concentrations of Muslims in the city.

Al-Taheri believes that the college Muslim organizations she belonged to sought to bridge the gap between Muslims and non-Muslims in Brooklyn.

“This spying doesn’t do any good at all. It just makes us feel like we don’t belong in a way. But we want them to know that we are a part of this country,” Al-Taheri says with a strong Brooklyn accent.

Occupy “Day of Action” Ends with March into Brooklyn

Keldy Ortiz — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 21:37:29 +0000

Update from last night’s Brooklyn Bridge march:

Protestors leave Foley Square and march to the Brooklyn Bridge. Photo by Shane Hunt.

The Occupy Wall Street movement poured into New York’s most populous borough as thousands of demonstrators marched across the Brooklyn Bridge on Thursday evening.

Occupy protestors were joined by union leaders, political advocates, religious organizations, and student groups at Foley square as night fell over lower Manhattan’s financial district.

From there, they slowly moved in a procession toward the East River, expressing indignation over an array of economic and political issues, from the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk policy to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Protestors in Foley Square. Photo by Shane Hunt.

“There is a great need for the movement to expand,” said Ben Becker, an organizer for the Party for Socialism and Liberation. “There is some symbolism in us crossing the bridge into another borough and bringing our message to people outside of Manhattan.”

At a pre-march rally at Foley Square, surrounded by many of the buildings that house government power in New York City, speakers led chants, told stories of hardship, and aired grievances over a set of loudspeakers.

“We need jobs, not more budget cuts, not more austerity measures,” exclaimed one union representative.

A woman spoke of the economic hardship she has endured in recent years, claiming to have lost both her house and her husband as a consequence; a CUNY student condemned rising tuition costs; a man rapped in Spanish.

Soon after, the demonstration began a slow crawl toward the bridge as demonstrators moved along sidewalks, kept from the streets by barricades and cops in protective gear. Chants filled the air, including one directed at the watchful police: “You’re sexy, you’re cute, take off your riot suit.”

The 99 percent symbol projected on a building along Centre Street above the march.

Dozens of protesters, including City Councilman Jumaane D. Williams, were arrested at the bridge’s entrance after sitting down in the street to block traffic, The New York Times reported.

The march often came to a complete standstill, muted shouts and dull rumblings in the distance ahead the only evidence that it hadn’t been entirely quashed.

Twice, waves of jeering disapproval rippled through the stretched mass of demonstrators as police vans full of the arrested passed by on Centre Street.

In its early stages, the Occupy Wall Street movement gained national media attention in part because of a failed Oct. 1 attempt to cross the Brooklyn Bridge, which resulted in over 700 arrests.

From yesterday morning’s protest:

Protestors convene at Zuccotti Park. Photo by Shane Hunt.

As Occupy Wall Street activists assembled this morning across the street from a barricaded Zuccotti Park, an ominous warning spread through the crowd: be ready for conflict with the police, and document cases of abuse.

“If there is any misconduct, make sure you get the badge number and the name of the officer,” protesters advised, their message echoing through the so-called people’s mic. “It’s very important to get various angles of the same incident. If you’re recording, stay steady and firm.”

The protesters’ expectations of physical confrontation were fulfilled. Two months after the movement’s beginning, and two days after the occupiers were evicted from Zuccotti Park, activists sporadically engaged in pushing and shouting matches with police during marches designed to block workers and traffic at intersections surrounding the New York Stock Exchange. By midday, about 100 people were arrested, officials say.

Police and protestors clash at the barricades. Photo by Shane Hunt

The crowd was mercurial, showing organized restraint on one block and contentiousness on another. A sense that change had come, however, was consistent and pervasive

“The best thing that has happened yet was Bloomberg clearing out the park,” said 24-year-old James from Sleepy Hollow, who declined to give his last name. “It made it less material, less grounded in one thing.”

Just after 8:30 a.m., a group of protesters moving west on Beaver Street met a wall of police officers head on in front of a school at Broadway Education Campus.

In response to activists’ profane chants, an officer rebuked the crowd: “That’s how you talk in front of a school?”

One man protesting the OWS protest. Photo by Shane Hunt.

They responded: “This is what you do in front of a school?”

Minutes later, protesters along the sidewalks shouted, “this is a nonviolent protest,” while those in the road scuffled with cops. Schoolchildren lined up shoulder-to-shoulder in classroom windows overlooking the turmoil, laughing and waving at the scene below.

More friction, this time between occupiers and civilians, erupted at the intersection of Wall Street and Broadway. A counter-protester holding a sign that read “Occupy A Desk” voiced disapproval of the movement as bystanders attempting to go to work were turned away from a police barricade.

“I need my job,” shouted one woman in a heated exchange with protesters. “This is ridiculous. My employer is not going to understand. This is not the way.”

Police hold and arrest a group of protestors. Photo by Shane Hunt.

But the crowd had little sympathy for the throngs of civilian workers unable to get to work on time.

“I doubt they’re going to lose their jobs,” said Christopher Guerra, 27, of Newark. “I can assure you that any corporation will say OK, we can understand.”

A few blocks away, at Broadway and Exchange Plaza, close to a dozen protesters were arrested after they blocked off another intersection. Restrained and lined up against a wall, they broke into a rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” before being loaded into police vans.

By midday, and after dozens of similar confrontations and arrests, the protest had made its way back to Zuccotti Park. Barricades were dismantled by both activists and police, but tensions between the groups remained high as they pushed back and forth along the borders of the square.

A march across the Brooklyn Bridge is planned for this evening.

Occupy Wall Street protestors arrested Thursday in Lower Manhattan from Michael Copley on Vimeo.

OWS Crowd Disperses to Plan “Day of Action”

Neha Banka — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 20:05:21 +0000

A much smaller group of protestors gathered at Zuccotti on Wednesday morning. Few protestors slept overnight. Photo by Neha Banka.

Zuccotti Park was less crowded Wednesday, but Occupy Wall Street members insisted that the movement is not losing steam as they prepared several dramatic gestures for Thursday in protest of Tuesday’s early morning police eviction and a court order banning tents and sleeping bags in the park.

Only a few dozen protestors were milling in the park on Wednesday morning, as organizers planned for today’s “Day of Action.” Hundreds of people stormed the streets of the financial district this morning, blocking off intersections and clashing with police.

Those who did sleep overnight in the park Tuesday found inventive ways to get around the court order. Park benches were lined with shiny, foil-like sheets called “space blankets” that are used by marathon runners and surgeons to retain body heat. Some stubborn protestors slept in these sheets in place of their banned bags and tents.

Leina Bocar smuggled a sleeping bag into the park last night and said she used both it and one of the sheets, which were distributed by “medic” volunteers. Like other protestors, Bocar is convinced that the crowds will come eventually.

“Most people are at work, “ she said. “Some are at general assembly meetings. Some are at homeless shelters. But that doesn’t mean the movement’s going to die. Because tents weren’t allowed, many people didn’t sleep here at night. But I know more and more people are going to come here.”

Another protester, Stephen Bollela, said he was still aching from Tuesday’s eviction. He said he was in his tent when police moved in at 1 a.m.

“They started kicking at me through the tent,” he said. “I didn’t know what was happening. They tried to take my bag and arrested me. There are witnesses in the park who will testify to that.”

There was no way yesterday to confirm Bollela’s account with police, but he showed a swollen right eye, bruises on his face and cuts and bruises on his wrist.

He said he persuaded the police to stop kicking by telling them his left arm was already hurt by an earlier accident. “They kicked me and said, ‘You shouldn’t be here then,’” he claimed.

He said that he went to a hospital for treatment.

“Seeing we can’t sleep here, all these people from out of town were given space to sleep in other people’s homes who lived nearby,” he said. “I let a couple of them sleep in my apartment on Fulton.”

The protesters are helping each other stay warm and dry in other ways as well.
Bill, who declined to give his last name, is a volunteer for the group’s “Shipping Inventory and Storage” unit, which yesterday morning distributed white socks among protestors.

“We’re living out in the streets,” he explained. “If your socks get wet, you’ll get trench foot.”

His supply unit was trying to figure out who was OWS and who was just living there. He himself has been camping out here for 34 days, he said.

“Tomorrow we are going to make people realize we’re here to stay,” he said.

Being evicted from Zuccotti Park isn’t a problem he thinks. “We have other locations: buildings, parks, office space. Our homes were taken by the police and we’re going to change that,” he proclaimed.

He continued: “The senate’s in stagnation. President Obama has made every thing that George. W. Bush did that was considered a war-crime normalized. Bush was stupid, Obama is evil. I think what we’re doing here is more beneficial than what any other party can do. I hope a new party is created here. It’s going to take a lot to silence us.”

It is impossible to say how representative Bill is of the overall OWS movement, but the gesture for the sleeping man does reflect widespread mutual support among the protestors.

A man is holding his one-year-old daughter and it starts to rain. “Do you need an umbrella for the baby?” a woman comes up to him and asks. “This is not the way people are on Wall Street and the rest of world.”

LIVE BLOG: OWS “Day of Action”

Anna Codrea-Rado — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 10:58:08 +0000

Live coverage from Ink reporters and the social media universe, as events unfold in Zuccotti Park and beyond.

The live blog is now closed. Full coverage of Occupy Wall Street here.

Summary of today’s events:

- Today was the OWS movement’s “Day of Action.”

- Although OWS protestors hoped to march to Wall Street and disrupt the New York Stock Exchange’s opening bell today, they never got close and markets opened as usual at 9.30 a.m.

- Police made at least 100 arrests.

- The demonstrations follow Tuesday’s eviction of Zuccotti Park.

Brooklyn Ink reporters who were live-tweeting today: Anna Hiatt, Andrew Katz, Hiten Samtani, Jonathan Tayler and Ravi Kumar

***

12:54 pm

Ravi Kumar spent the morning around Zuccotti Park and tells us about it:

“Reporters and police had descended on Zuccotti Park at dawn. The park was barricaded and there was only one entry point. I entered the park through a small passage between the two barricades. Inside the park, one protester started a “mic check.” The speaker was a young man who asked those in the park to write down on their hands the phone number for an association of lawyers whom they could call if they were arrested. A woman from Astoria wrote down the number. She had arrived just before 6 in the morning having brought rolls for the protesters. She said she wants to protest but did not want to get arrested. A speaker asked protesters to move across the street where, Jason Eppink from Long Island was distributing bread. There were roughly 300 protesters and police were making sure that no one is standing on the roadway. The police presence suddenly increased. A speaker announced that the march to Wall Street would start within few minutes. Protesters were chanting “All day, all week, Occupy Wall Street.” Behind me protesters were chanting, “Put away the riot gear. I don’t see riot here.” Protesters were hugging and clapping. Some were drumming. A man in suit held a sign that read “ Harvard Men for Economic Justice.” The space between the Bank of America and Brown Brothers Harriman was filled by now. Protesters were starting to march towards 40 Wall Street where a man approached a group of reporters and shouted “Media, get out of the way.” Protesters then started to march towards Hanover Street. People were dancing and chanting. A young woman climbed on a man’s shoulders and announced that the protesters should separate into groups. She asked 100 protesters to branch out and occupy another block. A group of police officers asked a protester to stop. They smiled at him and took pictures of his sign. It read “ Bacon, Egg, Cheese Revolution.” The cops laughed as the man walked away. Protesters sat down in the street and a speaker announced that they had occupied the block. Then they started to chant, “How do we end the deficit? End the war and tax the rich’.”

11:09 am

While Occupy Wall Street protestors miss their original kitchen, Andrew Katz finds a new makeshift kitchen being made in the park:

There’s food once again in the park. A bunch of pizzas were delivered and handed out and many eager, hungry protestors grabbed a slice. Elsewhere in the park, a man drops off a black garbage bag filled with various cereals, drinks and cups. “I’m dropping this bag here and it’s for all of you,” he said. “I’m not responsible for what happens to it, but enjoy.” He clears a few members of the press from a table and starts setting up for the others to take. It’s not quite the kitchen they had, but they’ll take what they can get.

11:02 am

Anna Hiatt says protestors are heading back to Zuccotti Park:

“I think everyone’s arrested out,” says a protester in the crowd. The police briefly allowed protesters to walk in the street as they headed back to Zuccotti Park. The police weren’t making anymore arrests, at least among the protesters who had been demonstrating at Beaver and William streets. Chants of “We are the 99 percent” still ring in the streets, but the mood is less tense. They’re headed back to Zuccotti for a “victory celebration.”

10:56 am

Hiten Samtani took these snapshots at various points through the march, including across Zuccotti Park, at the corner of Pine and Nassau, and at 100 Broadway:

10:51 am

Andrew Katz reports on the scene at Zuccotti Park:

Hundreds of protestors arrive back at a largely empty Zuccotti Park chanting “Whose park? Our park.” A photographer breaks the barricade along Broadway and officers push him back, scolding him. A woman nearby screams, “Don’t push him!” to which the officer replies, “Wah,” mimicking a baby.

The sidewalks are getting crowded and officers are attempting to keep the protestors moving to avoid congestion. One passerby, an elderly man in a black leather jacket and green cargo pants, says, “This is not the country I grew up in.”

10:40 am

Hiten Samtani reports on the scene from 100 Broadway:

About two dozen officers have lined up by the walls at 100 Broadway, checking IDs of people working here. They have huddled up to keep an eye on what’s going on at Pine-Nassau.

The chants are getting louder, with some people climbing up on each other’s shoulders to scream, “Whose streets? Our streets!”

The police make an announcement via loudspeaker: “You don’t have a parade permit. Please clear these grounds for your own safety.”

9:37 am

Panoramic view of the protesters at Wall Street – sent in by Jon Tayler

9:32 am

Meanwhile, around the world, other occupy movements are taking place:

- In London, protesters have been given until 6 p.m. (GMT) to evacuate St Paul’s churchyard, which they’ve been occupying since Oct. 15. After that, demonstrators will have to negotiate with the City of London or they risk being taken to court. For more, click here.

- In Paris on Tuesday, protesters were made to leave the capital’s financial district La Defense, occupied since Nov. 4. Wednesday, they moved back in to rebuild the camp. For more, click here.

- In Madrid, a large demonstration against unemployment joined the protesters gathered in Puerta Del Sol plaza. Demonstrators have gathered there to protest against Spain’s economic situation since May. For more, click here.

- In Rome, more than a week after Silvio Berlusconi stepped down, protesters have been occupying Piazza Santa Croce in Gerusalemme. They held a general assembly on Monday, however their movement has not been as burgeoning as other European capitals. Last month, their movement was hijacked by anarchists. For more, click here.

For photos of other occupy movements around the U.S., click here.

9:28 am

The tension among demonstrators is escalating. Andrew Katz, who has witnessed several arrests, sent in this report:

“A woman called 911 because she got a text from someone arrested inside the van who said her circulation was being cut off by the plastic handcuffs. Her friend is screaming at NYPD to help her. Officer Gordon says ‘that’s what happens when you get handcuffed.’ She called 911.

At Pine and Broadway, the protestors who sat down and later surrounded by police were arrested. Many women, including a 16-year-old girl from California, was among them. Most were handled a bit roughly. Belongings are piled in the middle of the intersection. About 300 protestors are waiting to see what will happen next. The tension is escalating.”

9:07 am

The demonstrators are declaring that they have “Occupied Wall Street.” This is what our reporters can see:

Hiten Samtani:

“Eight cops have their backs to me, while three face me. A man in striped black pants and a dress shirt is blowing a small gold trumpet. He’s in sync with the chant that’s building, reminding the protestors that they are ‘are unstoppable, another world is possible.’ People take pictures of each other across the street. ‘Lizzie!’ screams a bearded man wearing a pink hoodie.

‘My mom took me at 4 years old to march for anti-abortion rights in DC. So this is in my blood’ says man drumming on a steel mug.

The crowd’s energy seems to go in waves. “I think my favorite is the really bored looking cops. ‘Man I put in fuckin o/t for this?’” says a man standing on the sidewalk.

Four tall cops with helmets on are watching the action, or lack of it. They’re joking amongst themselves, and with the odd protestor. One cops holds his baton firmly, but he’s mainly using it to tap other officers while grinning.”

Anna Hiatt:

“The protesters are marching through the streets of downtown. The front of the protest is reaching Wall and Pearl Streets right now and a marcher holding a sign that says ‘wake up’ directs traffic to the right and onto Wall Street. Theprotesters have left the sidewalks and taken to the streets blocking traffic. Cabs are at a stand still. And the protesters march on.”

Andrew Katz:

“Protestors have sat down at the intersection of Pine and William Streets. They’re surrounded by police, who are also working to keep other protestors and press on the sidewalks. Officers are in riot gear and protestors scream ‘Put away your riot gear. We don’t see no riot here.’”

Ravi Kumar:

“The protesters are separating into separate groups to go to separate intersections. They are declaring that they have finally ‘Occupied Wall Street’”

8:52 am

Andrew Katz witnessed protesters being arrested. So far, he’s counted at least 16 arrests at Pine and William St:

8:49 am

Here is a map of where protesters are sitting down so far, surrounding Wall St:

8:46 am

Our reporter Ravi Kumar describes the scene:

“150 protesters are now sitting down on the road at the intersection of William St. and Exchange Square. They are surrounded on all sides by NYPD barricades. They’re chanting ‘How do we end the deficit? End the war and tax the rich’.”

8:14 am

Celebrity Spotting: Jonathan Tayler points out that Tony Danza has shown up: “In which I briefly become a paparazzo.”

8:03 am

Adam Gabbatt from the Guardian tweets this:

http://twitter.com/#!/AdamGabbatt/status/137152814269988864

7:42 am

Andrew Katz has been down there since 6 a.m., here is what he’s seen so far:

“It was still pitch black outside at 6 a.m. and Zuccotti Park and the only lights were car headlights and the in-ground lights at the park. Officers were screening everyone who went inside Zuccotti and there weren’t many people there. We walked to the New York Stock Exchange and see how police were preparing for the expected crowd. At the intersection of Exchange Place and Broadway, we were barred entry because “press isn’t allowed down there,” an officer told me. The area was filled with police, most on foot but some on horseback. The barricades are up and the press is gathering. No sign of protestors yet as the morning sky lightens up. It’s only a matter of time.”

7:41 am

Our Anna Hiatt reports that the crowd is moving to Broadway and Cedar:

http://twitter.com/#!/ahiatt/status/137146627092779008

7:05 am

Live from inside Zuccotti Park, Anna Hiatt posts this picture of David Intrator (’78, Harvard), a brand consultant in NYC and ”a Harvard man for economic justice.”

7:00 am

For those of you joining us today, here is a summary of events up to this point to get you up to speed:

- The Occupy Wall Street movement began on 17 September, exactly two months ago today.
- The demonstration began following a call to action by Adbusters, the Canadian activist group. They sent out an email to their listserver proposing a peaceful demonstration in New York’s Financial District.
- On 17 September, around 1000 people marched down Wall Street and the surrounding area. At this point, there was little media traction on the issue.
- On 1 October, the protestors marched across the Brooklyn Bridge, where police arrested over 700 people, including journalists. At this point, the media began to take notice.
- The protest’s slogan is, “We are the 99%.” The demonstrators say they stand against the “corrosive power of major banks and multinational corporations over the democratic process, and the role of Wall Street in creating an economic collapse that has caused the greatest recession in generations.”
- Three weeks after the protest started in New York, similar demonstrations took place across cities all over the world, including London, Rome, San Francisco, Frankfurt and Sydney.
- On 15 October, a rally on Times Square took place. More arrests were made.
- Demonstrators continued to occupy Zuccotti Park, a privately-held space, as their campsite.
- In the early hours of Tuesday morning this week, police evicted protestors from Zuccotti Park.
- A judge issued a restraining order against the eviction and the city was asked to show cause for the eviction.
- A second judge ruled that although the protests could continue, people would no longer be allowed to bring tents to Zuccotti Park, a move that would ostensibly end overnight occupations when the temperature falls.
- The eviction has brought the movement further into the media spotlight and has galvanized the protestors.
- Police made over 200 arrests on Tuesday, including more journalists.
- The movement plans to attempt to disrupt the ringing of the Trading Bell at the New York Stock Exchange on the morning of 17 November.

6:47 am

The press is already being asked to move away from NYSE as tweets Andrew Katz:

http://twitter.com/#!/katz/status/137131892137926656

6:46 am

Anna Hiatt gives us a wider view with this panoramic shot of Zuccotti Park:

6:32 am

Our reporter Jonathan Tayler sends this picture of The Charging Bull, caged:

6:23 am

On Tuesday, the press was denied access to Zuccotti Park. Looks like the area is already cordoned off today:

http://twitter.com/#!/JATayler/status/137127984715923456

http://twitter.com/#!/katz/status/137127767228686336

6:16 am

Our reporter Anna Hiatt sends her first picture of Zuccotti Park:

6:12 am

The Occupy Wall Street NYC movement have published a Statement of Autonomy, passed at their General Assembly.

“We acknowledge the existence of professional activists who work to make our world a better place. If you are representing, or being compensated by an independent source while participating in our process, please disclose your affiliation at the outset. Those seeking to capitalize on this movement or undermine it by appropriating its message or symbols are not a part of Occupy Wall Street.”

Click here for full statement.

6:05 am

Good morning Brooklyn, New York and beyond.

The Occupy Wall Street movement is meeting at 7am at Liberty Plaza in an attempt to disrupt the New York Stock Exchange.

Our reporters Anna Hiatt, Andrew Katz, Hiten Samtani, Jonathan Tayler and Ravi Kumar are in Zuccotti Park and will be bringing you live coverage as events unfold this morning.

Stay tuned.

The New Dawn of OWS

Daphnee Denis — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 01:02:24 +0000

After police took down Zuccotti Park, protesters went on the offensive congregating in Foley Square before dawn, then marching through morning rush hour to a small park at Canal Street and Sixth Avenue. From there groups splintered. Some stayed behind while others set out to take back Zuccotti.

For more OWS coverage

The Night Zuccotti Fell
Occupy Wall Street: Full Coverage

**
Tweet us your photos @TheBrooklynInk. Like us on Facebook. And don’t forget to leave a comment.

As it Happened: The Occupy Wall Street Eviction

Hiten Samtani — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 15:31:50 +0000

Live coverage from Ink reporters and the social media universe, as events unfold in Zuccotti Park and beyond.

The live blog is now closed. Read full Occupy Wall Street coverage here.

The story so far:

- Police evicted protestors from Zuccotti park early Tuesday morning
- A judge issued a restraining order against the eviction
- The city was asked to show cause for the eviction by 11:30 a.m.
- A second judge ruled that although the protests could continue, people would no longer be allowed to bring tents to Zuccotti Park, a move that would ostensibly end overnight occupations when the temperature falls
- Protestors have returned to Zuccotti Park, but it is unclear how they will continue to stay overnight without tents.
- The eviction has brought the movement further into the media spotlight and has galvanized the protestors
- More than 70 arrests have been made.
- Protestors are back in Zuccotti park, and they intend to stay the night

Reporters live tweeting from Zuccotti Park: Olivia B. Waxman, Omar Akhtar, Emily Judem, Daphnee Denis

***

10:30 pm

It’s been an eventful day for the Occupy Wall Street movement, and for the city. Through a surprise early morning eviction, scores of arrests, a courtroom drama, and a tent-less return to Zuccotti Park, protestors have responded with replenished zeal.

The Ink’s been with the movement every step of the way. We dispatched reporters to various scenes of the protest over the last 24 hours, and have covered the drama from Zuccotti Park, Foley Square, the courthouse, and King’s County.

This was our first live blog, and it’s been an exhilarating experience. We hope you’ve found our coverage useful and interesting. We’d love to hear your thoughts, tweets, and tweeted thoughts. Reach us by email: thebrooklynink@gmail.com or on twitter: @thebrooklynink

This is Hiten Samtani, on behalf of The Brooklyn Ink staff, signing off.

10:24 pm

Andrew Katz was on the scene between noon and 5 p.m., trying to understand the mood as protestors returned to Zuccotti Park.

Nine-to-fivers were heading back from their day jobs and were gawking
at what was happening. The former occupiers of Zuccotti Park were
being let back into their home of the past two months, and for most,
it was unrecognizable. No kitchen, media tent or medical station. No
clothing store, sanitation hub or library, either. Just plenty of
slate, in-ground lights and trees that haven’t yet lost their golden
leaves. And the nearly 75 New York Police Department officers who were
gradually letting in a single-file line of occupiers, journalists and
protestors to once again move about within the confines of the park.

Read Katz’s afternoon dispatch in full here.

9:46 pm

Joey Maestas spoke to Brooklynites Byron and James. “We are here to support the people! We are glad we can finally eat in Zuccotti!”

9:41 pm

Ink reporter Ravi Kumar joined Hiatt at 6:30 a.m.

Around 7 a.m., I saw a young girl waking up. She was sleeping on the bare ground using a bag of her clothing as a pillow. I heard her conversation in fragments. She started to speak to the person next to her and I heard the word: revolution. I moved closer to her. She was asking in a concerned voice if her friend had been arrested.

Read his morning dispatch here.

9:34 pm

Anna Hiatt was at the park during the witching hours, just before police started making arrests.

Our itch to get a story had turned into impatience, which had turned into rage. We were members of the press, after all. And the park was right there. We had heard the police helicopters overhead and seen the soon-to-be-full paddy wagons driving toward the park. But Zuccotti was just beyond our reach.

Read the full story here.

9:14 pm

Daphnee Denis again, with snapshots from earlier today at Zuccotti Park.

This woman was arrested during the protests.

Amos Fischer, a folk musician, has been participating in the movement since October.

9:05 pm

Joey Maestas has an update from Zuccotti Park.

Things seem less tense now. Police are no longer checking bags and are letting people in. Protestors are free to roam, but officers are adamant that no one should be sitting on the walls at the north end of the park. The “people’s mic” is in effect.

Litkick explains how the “people’s mic” works:

A speaker says a few words in a normal voice, no more than half a sentence at a time. The speaker will then pause while many people sitting nearby will repeat the same words together loudly, thus amplifying the speaker. Next, the facilitator explained, those sitting at the far edges of the circle will repeat the same words again, to let the speaker and facilitators know that they are being heard clearly by everyone in the group.

8:03 pm

GOOD magazine’s Cord Jefferson has an insightful piece on why the eviction of Zuccotti Park is a blessing in disguise for the OWS movement. Jefferson said that the eviction rejuvenated the movement by turning the media spotlight back on protestors, reinforcing the peaceful image of the movement, and by “wiping the slate clean.”

Do check out the full story on GOOD. A highly recommended read.

7:31 pm

Joey Maestas reports that the sidewalk outside the park was packed. Over 1,500 people gathered to add their voices to the movement. The police had established checkpoints at many points outside the park, and were adamant that no one could bring any food in.

Once people were inside the park, the police made sure people didn’t linger on the sidewalk. Officers are scattered throughout the park.

Justin from the OWS media team was shepherding people towards the east side of the park for the general assembly, which involved the crowd chanting an oath: “We are the 99%, and we’re here to stay.”

7:01 pm

Our reporter Joey Maestas is at Zuccotti. He spoke to Brooklyner Alex Richards, who is making new signs for the movement.

6:20 pm

Reporting 2.0

http://twitter.com/#!/jmaestas22/status/136584192707395584

6:09 pm

Ink reporter Emily Judem took this photograph from the edge of Zuccotti, while police continued to keep protestors out.

5:56 pm

http://twitter.com/#!/obakhtar/status/136578063893925888

5:43 pm

Olivia Waxman has a dispatch from the courthouse.

The New York Supreme Court may have denied an extension of the temporary restraining order issued this morning, but lawyers for Occupy Wall Street say there is nothing that can stop their clients from sleeping in Zuccotti Park tonight.

The lawyers argued that the decision only mentions that tents and other structures cannot be erected. It does not say anything about sleeping bags. ”In our view there aren’t serious safety and health concerns at the park,” OWS lawyer Alan Levine said at a press conference shortly after the court posted the decision on its website.

“Protesters will continue to occupy Wall Street,” says OWS lawyer Yetta Kurland. “The 99 percent will continue to express themselves. We will continue this fight.” Another OWS lawyer Dan Alterman said that the legal team hasn’t decided whether to appeal yet. “This is just a hiccup in the road,” he says.

Kurland added: “The city has acted so arrogantly today. My official next step is to go back to the office, plug in my dead cell phones, get a cup of coffee, and then regroup.”

City attorney Sheryl Neufeld said she was pleased with the decision. Douglas Flaum, who represents Brookfield Properties, did not take any questions.

The contact info for the city’s attorney is media@law.ny.gov

5:25 pm

Anna Codrea-Rado and Jonathan Tayler were at Zuccotti Park yesterday. Here’s a snippet of what they saw:

Photo: Jonathan Tayler / The Brooklyn Ink

“Despite Mayor Bloomberg initially banning tents, the park was swollen with them. Finding an entrance was difficult. Inside the park, the kitchen was handing out free ice cream and a pair of protesters inside the main media tent pedaled two bicycles hooked up to a generator. The tents had by now taken up much of the space, forcing the protesters to keep to small, marked-off areas like the folding table where four or five people sat stripping cigarette butts for the leftover tobacco, or to the table next to it stacked with dog food and treats for Zuccotti’s canine population.
Many of the tents were closed. Of the ones that were open, the people inside were sleeping, chatting, eating – living.”

Read their full story here.

5:14 pm

Daphnee Denis has been speaking to protestors after the judge ruled against the use of tents in Zuccotti Park. They say that if they can’t stay at the park, they’ll ask churches to give them shelter.

4:49 pm

BREAKING: Olivia Waxman has the judge’s ruling:

The restraining order has been denied. Protesters did not prove the tents were necessary to prove their point.

Visit the court’s website for the full decision. A press conference on the decision will begin shortly at the courtroom.

4:38 pm

Reporters Anna Hiatt and Jonathan Tayler have been on the scene since the eviction of Zuccotti Park began. This is what they saw.

For more photos from the morning, check out their slideshow: “When the Police Came to Zuccotti Park”

4:37 pm

We’ve been working with our colleagues over at The New York World. Michael Keller has been compiling their Twitter coverage and ours and created this map:

4:28 pm

Olivia Waxman, who is Ink’s reporter at the courthouse, says that someone walked out of the clerk’s office and told reporters that the judge is still writing a decision. There may be word by 5 p.m.

4:04 pm

There has been some confusion regarding the court’s verdict on the eviction. Several reporters, including our own Omar Akhtar, have heard that the judge has ruled in the protestors favor. But The Ink’s Olivia Waxman, who is currently at the courthouse, heard different. She spoke to Alan Levine, a lawyer for the OWS movement. Levine dismissed a report that claimed the court had ruled that tents could go back into the park. “No such thing, there has been no decision yet,” he said.

Waxman says that OWS lawyer Dan Alterman walked out of the clerk’s office about 20 minutes ago and told the press line that there has been no decision yet. A reporter asked when the decision would come out, and Alterman, quoting Bob Dylan said: “‘the pump don’t work ’cause the vandals took the handles.’”

3:56 pm

Slate’s David Weigel noted that a Josh Harkinson piece from this morning reported that police had used the term “frozen zone” when ordering protestors to leave. The term “frozen zone” is used for an area secured by police to guard it from terror threats. Read the full story at Slate.

3:39 pm

Gloria Dawson reports on the Occupy Wall Street court order:

After police removed all protesters from the Occupy Wall Street camp in Zuccotti Park early this morning, Mayor Bloomberg said the protesters were breaking the laws of the park.

Protesters fired back by filing an injunction. Occupy Wall Street has moved inside, to the courts.

“The law that created Zuccotti Park required that it be open for the public to enjoy for passive recreation 24 hours a day,” read a statement by the mayor. “Ever since the occupation began, that law has not been complied with, as the park has been taken over by protestors, making it unavailable to anyone else.”

If granted, the injunction would force the city to restrain temporarily from “(a) evicting protesters and (b) enforcing “rules” published after the occupation began or otherwise preventing protesters from re-entering the park with tents and other property previously utilized” according to the court document.

Mayor Bloomberg said he knew about the injunction and planned to fight it. Jonathan Askin, an associate professor of clinical law at Brooklyn Law School, said he believed the restraining order should hold up in court and the protestors will be allowed to camp in Zuccotti Park. “There are some privately-owned public spaces that have curfews and other restrictions,” he wrote in an email. “Zuccotti Park was not and is not one of those parks. After the occupation of the park, the owner of Zuccotti Park attempted to create new rules governing behavior within the park, including preclusions on camping. These after-the-fact rules are contrary to the agreement that the landlord had made with the city in exchange for its building variances. I don’t believe the landlord now has the right to retroactively change its agreement to preclude camping within the park. It is also questionable whether the landlord has the right to use city police to enforce its own rules.”

After their removal protesters moved to Foley Square. Unlike Zuccotti Park, Foley is a public park run by the New York City Park’s Department. Philip Abramson of the parks press office said that that park, like most public parks in the city, closes at 1a.m.

3:19 pm

http://twitter.com/#!/JoshHarkinson/status/136538639265050624

3:17 pm

Daphnee Denis speaks to “The Grandmothers of OWS”.

They’re leaning on a barrier, needles in their hands, knitting what they thought would keep the occupiers warm during the chilly nights of November. Karin Hofmann, 69, and Marsha Spencer, 56, came to Zuccotti Park as soon as they heard of the eviction this morning. Spencer went at 3 a.m. Hofmann got here at 9 a.m. after watching the morning news.

“We don’t stay overnight,” Hofmann says, “but we had some things stored in the tents including chairs and all the donated wood so we could make clothes for the occupiers. All that’s gone. It’s distressing.”

The chairs are what worry them the most. Hofmann says that at her age, she can’t be standing. Spencer was using a chair that she always used to carry when she accompanied her kids to summer camp. She says she’ll miss it.

Both women are the grandmothers of Occupy Wall Street. And they are proud to be. “Ask me about my grandchildren,” says a badge on Spencer’s bag – the one where she carries her wool.

I ask about them.

She tells me proudly she has five grandkids; ages range from seven to 16. “They’re the reason why I’m here,” she adds. “Things have to change for their future.”

Since they arrived at Zuccotti Park, Spencer and Hofmann have adopted a wider family. “I had spare needles,” Spencer says. “People would come sit down with us and knit for an hour or two.”

They made friends at the park; now they’re worried about them. They’re waiting to hear from one woman who used to knit with them. She was sleeping in a tent last night but they haven’t seen her today.

“I know some people have been arrested,” Hofmann says. “We’re concerned, so we stay here. Here’s where we always knit.” She’s wearing a black T-shirt that says, in English and in German, “We will not be silent.” The scarf she’s knitting is black too — it contrasts with her pale skin and white hair.

Hofmann lives in the East Village and came to Zucotti Park because she wanted to see “the conversation change.” Here, she says, it isn’t about “how can I make more money?” but about “how can I help?” The park provided her with better healthcare than what she gets otherwise, she adds. She was widowed in 1985. She’d never planned on having a career but had to start working as a counselor for the aging and sometimes as a substitute teacher after her husband died. Still, she says, “Social Security is what’s keeping me alive now, and even that is threatened. It’s devastating.”

At Occupy Wall Street, she found people who care for her: they bring her food and come see her to have a chat. “The media’s always saying that all the occupiers do is complain,” she says. “All I know is they bring me cookies.”

2:58 pm

http://twitter.com/#!/exiledsurfer/status/136531178617450496

2:58 pm

Judge Michael Stallman will issue a decision by 3 p.m. on whether the restraining order should be extended. Olivia Waxman has details from the courtroom.

Brookfield Properties’ attorneys argued that Zuccotti Park is not meant to be a tent city. The owners feel they will be liable to the city if they do not clean it up and attend to health, waste, and fire safety issues. The attorneys say the park is not meant for habitation. They told Judge Stallman that if the park is cleaned up, protesters can go back and speak freely and sit on the benches — but they should not be allowed to set up camp. Attorneys want the city to help make sure the park gets used in accordance with the park’s rules.

Lawyers for Occupy Wall Street argued that Brookfield Properties made up rules for regulating the park only after the occupation began. Lawyer Alan Levine argued that Brookfield had no greater authority to pass rules on the park than the city of New York and must display a ”compelling” interest for doing so. Levine said fire and sanitation issues can be dealt with in a less restrictive manner, like setting up portable toilets and putting out more trash cans.

Lawyers for Occupy Wall Street argued there was no urgent need for police action earlier this morning. But city attorney Sheryl Neufeld argued that Brookfield has an obligation to make Zuccotti Park “open and accessible to all” and that is currently not the case. She argued there is no clear way to move around the park anymore: “Tents are on top of each other. And the number of tents has increased over the weekend.”

The court room erupted with laughter when Dan Alterman, an attorney for Occupy Wall Street, said the movement served the city with an order at 4:45am and faxed it to the mayor’s office. Neufeld said, “It was 5:00am, how was anyone supposed to get that?” Dan Alterman retorted, “You evicted us at 1:00am!”

When the hearing ended, Alterman said, “I think the judge gave a fair hearing.” Arthur Schwartz, a lawyer for the Transport Workers Union and the Working Families Party, said that “the situation is moving too fast.”

2:52 pm

Manhattan Borough President, Scott Stringer, said:

“Zuccotti Park is not Tiananmen Square.

I call for a full explanation of police behavior in this evacuation.”

2:44 pm

Daphnee Denis captured some moments from today’s events.

2:25 pm

Our reporter Joey Maestas spoke to Brooklyners about the movement, and what’s next for it. Check out his Storify here.

2:18 pm

If you’re unable to go down and see it for yourself, our reporter Emily Judem sends us this video of protesters:

2:01 pm

The Ink’s Emily Judem is now on the scene.

Robin Mahonen, of "Occupy Wheeling"

Robin Mahonen,56, is from Wheeling, West Virginia. She came to New York on Friday after taking part in “Occupy Wheeling.”

She brought a sign from back home in solidarity with the New York protestors.She says she never thought there would be a protest in Wheeling because of how conservative the city is, and was surprised when almost 200 people showed up. Now she says she will stay in New York at least until protestors are let back in Zuccotti Park.

1:48 pm

Omar Akhtar reports from Zuccotti Park.

The mood here is strangely upbeat. The protesters seem galvanized by the eviction and have returned with renewed purpose.

Chelsea Elliott, 25 says that ”for a long time, there was no outside force actively opposing us, plus the media attention was going slow. This event seems to have re-energised everybody. It’s showed us who we’re fighting against.’

The NYPD are now the ones occupying a freshly sanitized Zucotti Park. In a surreal scene, it looks like they are the ones under siege as they are surrounded by a ring of exuberant protesters.

The protesters say that the NYPD are in contempt of a court order issued this morning that is supposed to allow the protesters to return to the park. The order is currently being contested in the courts with both the police and the protesters waiting to take action
after the decision.

12:54 pm

Olivia Waxman has an update from the courthouse.

Wylie Stecklow is one of the lawyers representing the movement. The OWS legal team is reviewing the papers that the city served about an hour ago and will argue that the city’s position is “not constitutional.” The city filed papers stating that the park was dangerous and needed to be cleaned. But Stecklow says that “police are creating a more dangerous situation by not letting protesters back in. The situation at the park is more dangerous now than it was before.” He is holding papers filed by the president of the Transport Workers Union of America Local 101 and the Working Families Party. They are requesting to act as plaintiffs so that they can formally support the movement.

Michael Stallman is the judge assigned to the hearing, which will take place in Room 412. The room is filled almost to capacity.

12:48 pm

The New Yorker’s John Cassidy writes about what’s next for Zuccotti Park

http://nyr.kr/t9EUzm

12:40 pm

Emily Judem sends us this photo from the corner of Trinity Pl. and Cedar St. :

12:36 pm

Daphnee Denis spoke to Rob Green and Jose Burton, construction workers at the World Trade Center complex. They’re here for their lunch break.

“The bottom line is: We still have nowhere to have lunch at,” says Burton, 26. “First Occupy Wall Street took our spot, now it’s the cops.”

12:34 pm

12:01 pm

Daphnee Denis spoke to Anthony Accardo, 23, an actor who lets protestors come to his apartment to shower.

Anthony Accardo, theatre actor

Accardo founded a theatre troupe after first coming to Zuccotti Park. “That’s what brought down the Soviet Union, you know, the art?” he says. ”Right now we’re fighting over a bench. But it’s not going to go. We’re not going to go away.”

11:50 am

Ink reporter Olivia Waxman is with the press, occupying the hallway outside room 315 at 60 Centre St. She says that lawyers for Occupy Wall Street are reviewing papers, but there’s still no judge, or even a room.

11:46 am

Ink reporter Ravi Kumar is out at Grand Street and Sixth Avenue.He says that it looks like they are going to be mass arrests. Protestors have broken a lock and about 50 have entered the park next to Trinity Church. People are chanting: “This park belongs to God.” Others are telling the crowd “we’re here as your friends” and handing out red roses.

11:36 am

Ink reporter Daphnee Denis is at Zuccotti Park. She spoke to Beth Bogart, who’s walking around issuing leaflets accusing the city of “breaking the law” by evicting protestors.

Oscar Guinn came this morning to support the protestors. Guinn says that the eviction is “extraordinarily unfair, people try to go through the proper channels and respect the law, and the police doesn’t care.They say that the protestors have to talk to someone else, that it’s not their job. But if anything, that IS their job. to uphold the law, rather than to keep people out of the park.”

“T”, 33, refused to give his full name, but says he has been coming here and “organizing since Day One.” When asked where the movement was heading next, he said “the city’s full of space.”

11:01 am

Restraining order against the evacuation. (New York Civil Liberties Union @nyclu)

The New York World reports that a judge has issued a temporary restraining order against the eviction of demonstrators from Zuccotti Park.

Judge Lucy Billings said that the city must halt the eviction and may not prevent protestors from reentering the park with tents and other property.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he is aware of the court order, but will fight it. The judge has ordered city representatives to appear before court and show cause by 11:30 a.m.

Read a transcript of the court order on The New York World.

10:56 am

Our reporter Anna Hiatt is at Grand Street and Sixth Avenue. She says protestors have been there for about 75 minutes. A dozen or so protestors have climbed construction plywood and are sitting atop it with a yellow and black “Occupy Wall Street” sign.

More than 200 protestors are in a triangular paved area along Sixth Avenue between Canal and Grand. They are standing below a statue of Juan Pablo Duarte. There are a few police cars, and media vans from NY1, CBS2, and ABC Eyewitness. Hiatt says that the media presence is thinning out. A lawyer’s guild is standing by, informing protestors of their legal rights.

A protestor holds up a sign: ”From Tahrir Square to New York square, justes for all. We are the 99%”

10:34 am

November 14th: Another normal day at the Occupy Wall Street Protests. Just as it had for the previous eight weeks, an improvised community rose to life, spread its message as best it could, and returned to slumber amongst the tarps, tents, and unforgiving granite rock of Zuccotti Park.

Within an hour of November 15th, all of that changed.

The New York City Police Department moved on the Zuccotti encampment, forcing protestors out of the place many called home. It was 1 a.m. Police created a perimeter around Zuccotti Park, preventing anyone – media or otherwise, from entering the area. The goal was the opposite: everyone must go. Reports of pepper spray usage flooded the Twitterverse. Some chained themselves to the kitchen tent in the center of the encampment, even as other tents were dismantled and discarded, thrown hastily into the back of garbage trucks. The occupiers and all of their possessions, were meant to be cleared immediately. The protestors were, one way or another, removed from the premises.

In a statement, Mayor Michael Bloomberg explained: “At Brookfield’s request, members of the NYPD and Sanitation Department assisted in removing any remaining tents and sleeping bags. This action was taken at this time of day to reduce the risk of confrontation in the park, and to minimize disruption to the surrounding neighborhood.

“Protestors were asked to temporarily leave the park while this occurred, and have been told that they will be free to return to the park once Brookfield finishes cleaning it later morning. Protestors – and the general public – are welcome there to exercise their First Amendment rights, and otherwise enjoy the park, but will not be allowed to use tents, sleeping bags, or tarps and, going forward, must follow all park rules.”

Now the story unfolds. Stay with us as it does. We’ve been there all night and we’ll be here all day.

Food for OWS “Cabbed In” from Boerum Hill

Michael Wilner — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 01:14:03 +0000

Protesters share a meal prepared in Brooklyn kitchens. Photo by Michael Wilner

Even diehard true-believers have to eat, and for those in the Occupy Wall Street protest, that means eating food prepared not in Manhattan, but in Brooklyn.

Food for Occupiers in Zuccotti Park is being cooked in Boerum Hill and East New York, shipped to Lower Manhattan in donated vans and, occasionally, yellow taxi cabs.

The amount of food required to meet demand has reached a peak since the protests began in mid-September, Chef Eric Smith said. The voluntary kitchen staff, constantly shuttling food in from Brooklyn, is now preparing three meals a day for nearly 2,000 people.

Sean Dolan, chief cook at the protest, says one problem organizers face is an inability to “discriminate” between protestors and freeloaders.

“Rich people can come looking like homeless men, protestors can come in suits,” he explained. “We have to serve everyone.”

Dolan came to Zuccotti Park after being laid off from a restaurant in Massachusetts, where he was a cook.

“I lost my job, and three hours later I was on a train to New York,” Dolan said.

But free handouts in Zuccotti are hurting others. One vendor, Aly Amin, a resident of Bay Ridge, has been working in the park since 1991. His profits are down 40 per cent.

“I hear what they are saying, but they should say it and leave,” Amin said. “None of the business men want to come to me anymore,” he explains, and the protestors “have no money.”

Amin has already lowered prices, he says. But that has not been enough to resuscitate his business.

Read exclusive stories on unemployment in Brooklyn here.

Continental breakfast is offered until 9:30 am at the protest’s food stand, after which a hot meal of eggs and marinated potatoes is served. Sandwiches are typically on offer for lunch, and dinners are hot meals, such as Chinese food or pasta. All meals are free.

According to a report from The New York Post last month, most of the produce is organic from farms in upstate New York, Connecticut and Vermont.

One protestor, Brian Thomas, arrived from Maine twelve days ago, and now calls Zuccotti Park home. He says he alternates between eating from vendors and the free food station, which he says is often “delicious.”

“It’s like a catered graduation party,” he said, as he ate the morning’s offerings.

Soon, OWS organizers plan on moving all operations to The Commons Brooklyn, on Atlantic Avenue, where only some of the food is now cooked. Organizers plan on moving out of their second location, Liberty Café, a soup kitchen in East New York, due to its distance from the protest.

Smith says they are also looking at spaces in Red Hook for their operations, which they expect will expand in the wintertime, when everything will have to be stored and prepared indoors.

“We’re in preparation mode,” Smith said.