Occupy Wall Street Student Rally At Union Square Park

Student Strike. As it has been since the 19th century, Union Square Park's historic pavilion located on the northern end of the park was once again the backdrop for social protest movement. Occupy Wall Street visited the park again on Thursday afternoon where thousands gathered.

The Union Square Partnership (BID) is pushing for a restaurant to be built in the pavilion which would severely limit the historical use of the pavilion for these purposes. (Photo: Via gothamist)

Manhattan

"The first wave of marchers arrived right around 2:55 p.m. from the corner of Union Square East and 14^th Street," wrote Samantha Kimmey on Faster Times.

" They marched up the square and eventually met another wave coming from the west side. The chants will be familiar to anyone who has been following the Occupy coverage: “Banks got bailed out, we got sold out!” and “Show me what democracy looks like, this is what democracy looks like!” were chanted in unison by the crowd, sometimes fading slightly before being chanted again even more emphatically.

At the top of Union Square, one of the organizers started out by calling out various universities and colleges in the city and asking the crowd to shout for their school. NYU got the loudest response, various other institutions seemed to have a respectable presence, and apparently Union Square was a bit too far from Morningside Heights for anyone from Columbia to make it.

Students, both undergraduate and graduate, took to the people’s mic and shared their stories. The speakers came from Cooper Union, the New School, CUNY, NYU, Brooklyn College and Julliard. One of the most powerful aspects of the whole gathering, in my mind, was that the people’s mic required everyone in the crowd to repeat the speakers words, which always seemed to start with an identification: “My name is Ben,” “My name is Bobby,” “My name is Emma” – which, when you hear echoed five times, reinforces the collective ideal behind the entire 99% project.

More than a thousand students from universities across the city mobilized mid-afternoon Thursday at the north end of Union Square. This was part of a national day of ‘solidarity’ and action in support of the Occupy Wall Street movement that saw its symbolic residence at Zuccotti Park removed by a surprise NYPD raid on Tuesday. (Photo: Harry Lee)

The park's historic pavilion once again played an important role. (Photo: Harry Lee)

Pavilion backdrop.

A large crowd has amassed at Union Square for today's Occupy Wall Street demonstration, and celebrities walk among them! Well, one anyway. Gawker points us to this photo of Dark Knight Rises star Anne Hathaway, holding a sign and looking mad. (And cute!) What does her sign say? Blackboards Not Bullets. (On the back is Never Trust Millionaires—especially Italian ones.)

The group of demonstrators, which includes college students who walked out of class today, plan to march down to Foley Square for a rally. Other protesters are taking their message to the subways in an attempt to persuade commuters to join them at Foley Square.

Union Square Park north. Thousands of people gathered in the City's most historical location for social protest. By nightfall thousands of people including union members and community activists moved further south and began filling up another Parks Department property, Foley Square, in a solidarity rally.

Read More:

Student Strike at Union Square: “Shut The City Down”

Faster Times - November 18, 2011 - By Samantha Kimm

Occupy Wall Street International Day Of Action: Students From Across The City Rally At Union Square

NYU Local - November 18, 2011 - By Harry Lee

Occupy Wall Street's Student Supporters Walk Out Of Class In Solidarity

Huffington Post - November 17, 2011 - By Amanda M. Fairbanks

[UPDATE] Anne Hathaway Joins Large Occupy Wall Street Crowd At Union Square

gothamist - November 17, 2011 - By John Del Signore and James Thilman

Bloomberg - No Money To Maintain Parks - Blame Occupy Wall Street Protests

“If the jobs they’re trying to get rid of in the city -- the people that work in finance, which is a big part of our economy -- go away, we’re not going to have any money to pay our municipal employees or clean the parks or anything else,” - Mayor Bloomberg - October 7, 2011

Zuccotti Park - a privately owned public space located in Manhattan's financial district has been the epicenter for the Occupy Wall Street movement since its inception three weeks ago. (Photos: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) Click on images to enlarge.

Mayor Bloomberg took aim at the movement on his weekly WOR radio show on Friday, attempting to make a connection between the protests and the possibility of the city not having funds to care for parks.

“What they’re trying to do is to take the jobs from the people working in the city,” He said. “If the jobs they’re trying to get rid of in the city -- the people that work in finance, which is a big part of our economy -- go away, we’re not going to have any money to pay our municipal employees or clean the parks or anything else."

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly this week said the protests have cost the city $ 1.9 million dollars in NYPD overtime.

As Mayor, Bloomberg has overseen multi- billion dollar surpluses in the city budget while continuing allocating a fraction of the funds desperately needed to care for parks.

Occupy Wall Street has utilized a number of Parks Department properties - including Foley Square and Washington Square Park. The movement - protesting corporate greed, and demanding accountability - has spread across the country. - Geoffrey Croft

Formerly known as Liberty Plaza Park, it was renamed Zuccotti Park in honor of U.S. Chairman of Brookfield Properties John Zuccotti, who is also the chairman of the Real Estate Board of New York, former first deputy mayor of the City of New York, and former chairman of the New York City Planning Commission.

Manhattan

A frustrated Mayor Bloomberg ripped the Occupy Wall Street protesters yesterday as a bunch of selfish job killers -- lashing out at the stagnant movement that has dragged out for three weeks, according to the New York Post.

“What they’re trying to do is to take the jobs from the people working in the city,” he said on his weekly WOR radio show.

“They’re trying to take away the tax base we have, because none of this is good for tourism,” Hizzoner huffed about the thousands of activists in Zuccotti Park downtown.

Bloomberg was replying to a caller complaining about the noisy occupation.

SILENCE ON THE STREET: TRADERS, BANKERS MUM ON PROTESTS

“If the jobs they’re trying to get rid of in the city -- the people that work in finance, which is a big part of our economy -- go away, we’re not going to have any money to pay our municipal employees or clean the parks or anything else,” the mayor said.

The anti-corporate protesters plan to hit Washington Square Park today for a “general assembly.”

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, who said the protests have cost the NYPD nearly $2 million in on-duty overtime, warned that activists would be arrested if they don’t leave Washington Square at its 1 a.m. curfew.

The gathering this afternoon is aimed at hashing out the group’s plans, protesters said yesterday.

“City parks have curfews, yes,” the commissioner said. “We hope people will abide by the law.”

Police have not issued any demonstration permits for Washington Square Park today.

The radio-show caller who ignited Bloomberg’s ire yesterday -- a woman named Marsha -- griped that Zuccotti Park is “now unusable” because of the protesters who have been camping out there since Sept. 17 to voice their opposition to government coddling of corporations.

“There’s a general presence of incivility down there, but worst of all are the drums and the shouting,” moaned Marsha, who said her apartment overlooks Zuccotti Park. “What about my rights to use that park?”

Bloomberg quickly chimed in, saying that while “the First Amendment protects their right to say something ... we couldn’t agree more [with the caller’s sentiments].”

“We’re trying to deal with this in a way that doesn’t make the problem grow and protects everybody’s rights,” Bloomberg said. “There are some people with legitimate complaints, there are some people who just like to protest, and, like everything else, it’s a very complex thing. But I couldn’t agree more with you.”

The criticism of the protesters was echoed yesterday by other residents and business owners near Zuccotti Park, which is owned by property-management company Brookfield Properties but open to the public around the clock.

“I have so many problems. We can’t sleep. The sound of the drums -- it makes me crazy,” fumed J.W. Kim, a 33-year-old business owner who lives a block from the park. “They start in the morning and get more loud at 6 p.m. until 11:30 p.m. My children have to sleep. I have to sleep. Somebody has to protest for the residents.

“My son has homework, and he can’t pay attention to it.”

Mary Perillo, 57, who lives nearby, complained, “I have a problem with sanitation. People are peeing in the vestibule, and there’s been in a little bit of vandalism, some writing on the wall.”

Some of the people in Zuccotti Park -- which yesterday was jammed with 1,500 people singing, drumming, clapping and listening to a speech by Columbia University Professor Jeffrey Sachs -- thought the mayor was full of hot air.

“It’s very easy for the mayor to say that and paint a limited picture with a negative brush,” said Paul Spitz, a 60-year-old poet from Southampton, LI. “We challenge him to step up to the plate and come down here and talk with us.”

Early last night, more than 100 protesters marched over the Brooklyn Bridge, but there were no arrests.

The New York rally has spawned others around the country, including in Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, DC, and, as of yesterday, San Diego.

Read More:

Bloomberg blasts Wall Street protests as bad for the city

New York Post - October 9, 2011 - By David Seifman, Maura O’Connor and Dan Mangan

Wall Street Protests Risk Harm to NYC Economy, Mayor Says

Bloomberg Business Week - October 07, 2011 - By Henry Goldman

Update on the Public Space Issues for Occupy Wall Street: Liberty Square

Central Park Portrait Exchange - October 3, 2011 - By Peter Walsh

Privately Owned Public Space? “Occupy Wall Street” Real Estate Questions

Central Park Portrait Exchange - September 30, 2011 - By Peter Walsh