Tuesday, November 15, 2011
OWS
This morning (1:19) police in full riot gear cleared out Zuccotti Park. Then Sanitation moved in to give it a thorough cleaning. And, at at bit after 8 a.m.Mayor Bloomberg held a press briefing to re:iterate that property rights trump all.
Okay, that Brookfield which owns the park asked the city to step in...and they did a bit heavy handed way ( approx 1000 police to 200ish protesters in the park)
But let us review some facts: Zuccotti has the park because they traded some development want on their part with thecity--the city no longer had to maintain the park, it was open 24/7 to the public, and Brookfield got to build bigger/higher (and rename thhe park).
So on the pretense of cleaning the park--neighbors had complained about noise, defacation, though no evidence found...(if there were public loos anywhere in the city. . .thats another post) the City raided the park in the middle of the night. hmmmmm
And, the Mayor continued in the press conference that while he and the city support first amendment rights, the property rights of Brookfield were being harmed, as were the rights of the public to express themselve in the park...hence the action.
As if, the protestors were not part of the public. As if members of the public could not express themselves in the park, with the protestors--ask my 11 year old friend Ben wose class visited OWS when they were studying the Civil Rights Movement (he was interviewed on Mike Huckabee and NY
1--discussing first amendment rights.)
I will continue this latee--now I to go to work...but here are some accounts of what transpired.
Bloomberg's press release:
http://www.nyc.gov/portal/site/nycgov/menuitem.c0935b9a57bb4ef3daf2f1c701c789a0/index.jsp?pageID=mayor_press_release&catID=1194&doc_name=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nyc.gov%2Fhtml%2Fom%2Fhtml%2F2011b%2Fpr410-11.html&cc=unused1978&rc=1194&ndi=1
http://www.democracynow.org/
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/16/nyregion/police-begin-clearing-zuccotti-park-of-protesters.html?_r=1&hp
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/15/updates-on-the-clearing-of-zuccotti-park/?ref=nyregion
http://occupywallst.org/
Okay, that Brookfield which owns the park asked the city to step in...and they did a bit heavy handed way ( approx 1000 police to 200ish protesters in the park)
But let us review some facts: Zuccotti has the park because they traded some development want on their part with thecity--the city no longer had to maintain the park, it was open 24/7 to the public, and Brookfield got to build bigger/higher (and rename thhe park).
So on the pretense of cleaning the park--neighbors had complained about noise, defacation, though no evidence found...(if there were public loos anywhere in the city. . .thats another post) the City raided the park in the middle of the night. hmmmmm
And, the Mayor continued in the press conference that while he and the city support first amendment rights, the property rights of Brookfield were being harmed, as were the rights of the public to express themselve in the park...hence the action.
As if, the protestors were not part of the public. As if members of the public could not express themselves in the park, with the protestors--ask my 11 year old friend Ben wose class visited OWS when they were studying the Civil Rights Movement (he was interviewed on Mike Huckabee and NY
1--discussing first amendment rights.)
I will continue this latee--now I to go to work...but here are some accounts of what transpired.
Bloomberg's press release:
http://www.nyc.gov/portal/site/nycgov/menuitem.c0935b9a57bb4ef3daf2f1c701c789a0/index.jsp?pageID=mayor_press_release&catID=1194&doc_name=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nyc.gov%2Fhtml%2Fom%2Fhtml%2F2011b%2Fpr410-11.html&cc=unused1978&rc=1194&ndi=1
http://www.democracynow.org/
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/16/nyregion/police-begin-clearing-zuccotti-park-of-protesters.html?_r=1&hp
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/15/updates-on-the-clearing-of-zuccotti-park/?ref=nyregion
http://occupywallst.org/
Labels: ows nyc property rights
