Saturday, October 1, 2011

No Violence, No Police Plaza

They marched. Thousands, according to a couple of sources. But apparently they didn't go to Police Plaza; they instead ended up at the Att'y General's building. Whether by design or accident, that turned out to be a very good thing. The whole protest turned out well, in the end. No violence, no arrests, no problems.

The initial impetus for the march was to protest the police brutality of last weekend. Many of the camped-out got up and went for only that reason, but last night's numbers swelled because of the original cause: bankers making out like bandits while We The People struggle to survive. There was a bunch of union members in their t-shirts, making a showing about solidarity. There were random New Yorkers who'd gone down to Zuccotti Park to bring socks, water and cheer to the campers and joined the march. There was a group of "Grannies for Peace"- making me wonder if they'd been "Mothers Against the War" members back in the day.

And in the coming week, the Occupiers' numbers will swell, as union members will join them in Zuccotti Park. I kinda wish I could join them.

The NYC media, mostly conservative-owned tabloids, are doing their snarky best to pick apart and denigrate the whole thing. A rumor that got out of hand about Radiohead making an appearance, the cameos of a few celebrities, seemingly anything that happens becomes cause for mockery, but that's NY for ya.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/01/occupy-wall-street-protesters-police-brutality

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/09/30/2011-09-30_occupy_wall_street_protest_swelled_by_rock_band_dropin_hoax_wheres_radiohead.html

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank goodness it all went peacefully.

paulg said...

The Grey Lady finally commented:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/01/nyregion/wall-street-occupiers-protesting-till-whenever.html?_r=1&hp

I really liked this bit from the piece:
"A food station occupies the center of the park, where donated meals are disbursed, especially pizza and Popeyes chicken. Sympathizers from other states have been calling local shops and pizza parlors and, using their credit cards, ordering food to be delivered to the park."

Cool!

Austan said...

Lawless- Absolutely.

Paul- Well, wouldn't want to rush into anything, eh?

The first weekend, I saw where someone tweeted they were hungry and peep from all over ordered pizzas- $2800 bucks worth!