Old Man Bloomberg Won't Kick Kids Off Zuccotti Lawn

via Occupy Wall Street

In a major reversal from his derisive comments on Friday, Mayor Bloomberg has said that the Occupy Wall Street protesters may stay indefinitely in Zuccotti Park, so long as they do not break any laws. "The bottom line is, people want to express themselves. And as long as they obey the laws, we’ll allow them to,” Bloomberg told the Wall Street Journal. “If they break the laws, then, we’re going to do what we’re supposed to do: enforce the laws.” Occupy Wall Street spokesman Patrick Bruner told us that while he was happy with the mayor's comments, "It's always been our postion that we don't need any permission to exercise our rights."

Bloomberg said he had "no idea" how long the protests might last (organizers say indefinitely) but went on to foreshadow what some have said is the only PR-friendly way for the park's joint-owner, Brookfield Properties: “I think part of it has probably to do with the weather." Because of its designation as a wholly public space, Brookfield may have a hard time evicting the demonstrators even if they wanted to.

Before the Occupy Wall Street movement saw visits from celebrities and activist Al Sharpton, four protesters were arrested today in Zuccotti Park. According to the NYPD two arrests were for disorderly conduct, another was for "inflicting damage to the sidewalk," and the fourth was for an outstanding warrant. "I understand that the young lady who was arrested for writing a message of solidarity with the NYPD on the sidewalk," Bruner said. "We believe two of those arrests were related to those who were detained using videocameras." Bruner had no knowledge of the demonstrator who was arrested with a warrant.

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By Christopher Robbins in News on October 10, 2011 6:04 PM

Comments [rss]

latinlad

oh wonderful. Bedbug heaven.

Spirit of 76

You know who would have made quite a splash at the protest? Irene. Too bad she showed up a few weeks too early.

areyoucurious

If Zuccotti Park is private... that explains why these "upright" citizens are not removed for
loitering. WHo gave them permission to be on this private property and what do we know about the owner.. He must be wealthy enough to own sacred property in NYC.

I bet if this group was crying out against abortion they would have all been jailed by now.
What do you all think? Who is paying these folks to do nothing? Any chance they are living off of our tax dollars. Curious minds want to know!

matt reale

The park is public space, private property.
Loitering is not an offense in NYC- unconstitutional.

pendejito

Why are you looking to donate funds for their cause?

Colonel_Ingus

Whawhwhat?

ed_Ex2

Zuccotti Park is a private park owned by Brookfield Office Properties which ironically trades publicly on Wall Street.

Zing!

delicats

Not really

ed_Ex2

Not really what? Elaborate.

Guest

Is the park private property? If so the Bloomberg has no say.

RJGNYC

It's in some weird half and half zone. It's private property, but it's my understanding that the deal they were given to get the license to build in that particular zone means it has to be a public space. BUT that public space doesn't fall under the jurisdiction of the city. So unless something happens that requires the owners to have the area vacated, no one can tell them to leave. There are a few public space pavilions in the area that have similar rules.

stewart_nyc

Can't someone who lives by the park sue Brookfield for not keeping the park clean?

whiteiris

Ewwww, when does the board of health show up? Filthy disgusting pigs.

edgie168

Wow, are you really calling NYPD "filthy disgusting pigs"? You should be ashamed of yourself.

Phil Ryan

I think whiteiris was referring to the sanitation problems in the park caused by protestors. And the Department of Health/Sanitation is not the same as the NYPD. But yeah, the NYPD are being assholes in this whole debacle.

edgie168

stop interfering with me trolling a troller

randomtransplant

Meanwhile....

http://twitter.com/#!/search?q...

anybody wanna be a part of history? Head up I 95 as fast as you can.

longacre

The Occupy Boston folks started by embracing an indicted Al Qaeda sympathizer. Whether or not that guy is guilty of what he's accused of, the association instantly kills any chance of being supported by the masses. Also, wtf does he have to do with the economy?

pendejito

Who would this be?

soothsayer

bloomberg using an eco-friendly way to evict the protesters. let mother nature freeze them out.... in nyc, the first snowfall typically occurs on the week of thanksgiving. The big snowstorm occurs late january, and around president's day, gonna be messy. I wonder if city homeless services will park a van outside the park during code blue alerts.