Yes Man Arrested, NY Post "Flattered" by Hoax

Police confiscate fake copies of the New York Post outside News Corp. headquarters. (J.B. Nicholas / Atlas Press)

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Yes Men co-founder Andy Bichlbaum was arrested this morning while demonstrating one of the group's post-apocalyptic SurvivaBalls, described as "a self-contained living system—truly, a gated community for one. If you have a SurvivaBall, even if everyone else is dying, at least you can weather all storms." A spokesperson tells us that Bichlbaum was at Stuy Cove Park, just north of East 20th Street on the East River, wearing a SurvivaBall along with twenty others similarly ensconced. There were about 40 spectators, and so the NYPD, acting on NYC's unconstitutional parade permit law, arrived to break up the citizens' peaceful assembly.

We're told Bichlbaum was arrested because he popped a warrant over an unpaid summons, previously issued for riding his bike through Washington Square Park. (Also illegal, naturally!) He's being sent through the system, down to the Tombs, so it'll probably be another 24 hours before he surfaces—but at least he's got his SurvivaBall to protect him in the holding cells!

Yesterday, the Yes Men distributed 1 million copies of a fake New York Post which reported on catastrophic climate change in a very un-Murdoch fashion. Today the Post published an editorial claiming to be "flattered" by the stunt:

It's no surprise that they tried to spoof the New York Post; they figured this time, they'd choose a paper people actually love to read. But this is a limp effort. It has none of the wit and insight New Yorkers expect from their favorite paper. The Post will not be hiring any of their headline writers.

Apparently, the Post was so flattered that they summoned cops to detain volunteers distributing the papers outside News Corp. headquarters. According to a Yes Men spokesperson, police ultimately let the volunteers go, but confiscated approximately 200 copies of the paper, presumably for Murdoch's friends and family.