The NYPD Didn't Want You To See Occupy Wall Street Get Evicted

don't stop. looking forward to your coverage of the march on thursday. be careful out there.
xxx

occupy waaaaahhhhh street

You guys so outclass the New York Times in reporting on OWS. I am changing my home page to the Gothamist.

Photo labeled "Officer is carrying trash." The officer is trashing someone’s personal belongings. Thought you would like to know.

Wiki definition: Hippies rejected established institutions, criticized middle class values, opposed nuclear weapons and the Vietnam War, embraced aspects of Eastern philosophy,[18] championed sexual liberation, were often vegetarian and eco-friendly...

(Hippies versus the cops? The "squares?" Really?? Is that what this is about? I had no idea. I thought it was about Wall Street committing mass fraud and causing the mortgage meltdown, bribing judges, lobbying...crap like that. Peace out, man.)

and:  Hippie fashions and values had a major effect on culture, influencing popular music, television, film, literature, and the arts. Since the movement in the 1960s, many aspects of hippie culture have been assimilated by mainstream society. The religious andcultural diversity espoused by the hippies has gained acceptance, and Eastern philosophy and spiritual concepts have reached a larger audience. The hippie legacy can be observed in contemporary culture in myriad forms, including health food, music festivals, contemporary sexual mores, and even the cyberspace revolution.[2]
So what's the problem? Health food? Eco friendly? Music? Cyberspace?

Hmm, so much for freedom of the press.

I hope they're getting paid well to clean that crap up.

Cops like that are why I carry a gun.

FUCKING COPS!

There is nothing at all in the First Amendment about permits, curfews, safety and health issues, megaphones, drugs, tents, sleeping bags, generators, books, teach ins, being naked or saying mean things about the gilded fascist elite.  It doesn't even mention the number of people required to be an assembly or if they must be U.S. citizens.

The only requirement to a constitutionally lawful assembly is being peaceful.

This kind of violence being committed by the police under orders of their city administrators is also Domestic Terrorism as defined by the U.S. Patriot Act.

People should start pressing charges against these domestic terrorists. Take their photos, get videos and get witnesses willing to testify. Then go to the DA's office and demand arrests! Then go to the FBI, the CIA or even to the military and demand the criminals be designated as domestic terrorists. The law is for everyone to use, so use it!

Under the USA PATRIOT ACT, Section 802 of HR 3162 defines domestic terrorism as activities that:

1.) "involve acts dangerous to human life"

2.) "that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States"

3.) "appear to be intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population;" or "to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion"

Soon the police will have a press pool and embedded journalists like the CPA did in Iraq....

why aren't you tools at OWS with the riff raff if you feel so strong about it ????

whiny losers

contrary to popular belief there are many people that are involved and/or support OWS that also work and have families

.....

exactly

wait, you want your grandkids to know you had copy of the eviction notice......by immediately selling it for profit?! That doesn't even make sense.....

A friend of mine visited the park for the first time last night and remarked about how clean she thought it was! Not only that, but ows had a sponsor who had already promised the city and the mayor that he would pay to clean up the park, so um, <redacted></redacted>

These clowns need to wake up...they must be under the assumption that this is the United Socialist States of America.Its time for these dirty hippies to return to their folks basements where they belong smoking pot and playing video games.  Read this and tell me these guys aren't idiots!  -    Official list of Occupy Wall Street demands per occupywallst.org   Repeal the Taft-Hartley Act. Unionize ALL workers immediately. Raise the minimum wage immediately to $18/hr. Create a maximum wage of $90/hr to eliminate inequality. Institute a 6 hour workday, and 6 weeks of paid vacation. Institute a moratorium on all foreclosures and layoffs immediately. Repeal racist and xenophobic English-only laws. Open the borders to all immigrants, legal or illegal. Offer immediate, unconditional amnesty, to all undocumented residents of the US . Create a single-payer, universal health care system. Pass stricter campaign finance reform laws. Ban all private donations. All campaigns will receive equal funding, provided by the taxpayers. Institute a negative income tax, and tax the very rich at rates up to 90%. Pass far stricter environmental protection and animal rights laws. Allow workers to elect their supervisors. Lower the retirement age to 55. Increase Social Security benefits. Create a 5% annual wealth tax for the very rich. Ban the private ownership of land. Make homeschooling illegal. Religious fanatics use it to feed their children propaganda. Reduce the age of majority to 16. Abolish the death penalty and life in prison. We call for the immediate release of all death row inmates from death row and transferred to regular prisons. Release all political prisoners immediately. Immediate withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan . Abolish the debt limit. Ban private gun ownership. Strengthen the separation of church and state. Immediate debt forgiveness for all. End the 'War on Drugs'........ Well this certainly would break the country!
Its time for these dirty hippies to return to their folks basements where they belong smoking pot and playing video games.  Read this and tell me these guys aren't idiots!  - 
 
Official list of Occupy Wall Street demands per occupywallst.org
 
Repeal the Taft-Hartley Act. Unionize ALL workers immediately.
Raise the minimum wage immediately to $18/hr. Create a maximum wage of $90/hr to eliminate inequality.
Institute a 6 hour workday, and 6 weeks of paid vacation.
Institute a moratorium on all foreclosures and layoffs immediately.
Repeal racist and xenophobic English-only laws.
Open the borders to all immigrants, legal or illegal. Offer immediate, unconditional amnesty, to all undocumented residents of the US .
Create a single-payer, universal health care system.
Pass stricter campaign finance reform laws. Ban all private donations. All campaigns will receive equal funding, provided by the taxpayers.
Institute a negative income tax, and tax the very rich at rates up to 90%.
Pass far stricter environmental protection and animal rights laws.
Allow workers to elect their supervisors.
Lower the retirement age to 55. Increase Social Security benefits.
Create a 5% annual wealth tax for the very rich.
Ban the private ownership of land.
Make homeschooling illegal. Religious fanatics use it to feed their children propaganda.
Reduce the age of majority to 16.
Abolish the death penalty and life in prison. We call for the immediate release of all death row inmates from death row and transferred to regular prisons.
Release all political prisoners immediately.
Immediate withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan .
Abolish the debt limit.
Ban private gun ownership.
Strengthen the separation of church and state.
Immediate debt forgiveness for all.
End the 'War on Drugs'........ Well this certainly would break the country!

If you read the website, you will see that those suggestions are just that - suggestions, proposed by a single user; not a statement of their agreed-upon demands, submitted on 10/23 without further discussion.  Read the comments that follow and you'll see many do not endorse that list.  http://occupywallst.org/forum/...

If you read the website, you will see that those suggestions are just that - suggestions, proposed by a single user; not a statement of their agreed-upon demands, submitted on 10/23 without further discussion.  Read the comments that follow and you'll see many do not endorse that list.  http://occupywallst.org/forum/...

Liked your post by accident because I saw the list of demands and agree with most of them, or at least that there should be a serious discussion about them.  Didn't realize that your first paragraph was heartfelt and not dripping with tasty sarcasm.

For the most part, these demands are reasonable and would greatly improve this country. Also, can we agree that these are not "dirty hippies" who live in moms basement and smoke pot all day? Such a tired stereotype.

For the most part, these demands are reasonable and would greatly improve this country.

Are you serious???  So basically those that work hard and make money should be punished so those that wish to work only 6 hours a day and get paid 3 times minumum wage can be happy. Do you realise how much inflation would explode.  Think right now about going to Subway to get a sandwich.  A ham and cheese would cost you 25 dollars. not one of these is rational.  All I see is the yearn to make a socialist country and destroy religion. Religion is not something that needs to be destroyed to have a happy life.

Do you realize how much inflation will explode when China and Russia get their way and the world stops using the dollar to trade oil?

Yes, and notice how I said "for the most part." I agree with you that an $18 minimum wage and a $90 max is ridiculous, and in my view, the retirement age for soc security should be HIGHER not lower.

Not one of these is rational? Banning private gun ownership would cut the murder rate dramatically, for example, and passing stricter campaign finance laws would be a huge step forward in allowing a third political party to emerge from the recesses of government.

Lastly, and I say this as a proud card carrying Jew, religion on its whole does tremendous damage to science, medicine, the environment, politics, and just about anything it gets involved in.

FINALLY!  Thank you Mayor Bloomberg.  To defend OWS as if they were staying in the park under legal terms, weren't breaking any rules and didn't have this coming to them only shows how ignorant and disillusion some people are.

Your Mayor is a total d-bag and the NYPD is more or less out of control,yet you people put up with it as if it was the norm.As the old saying goes" you've made your own mess,go lie in it".

Why are the slops trying to hide their actions? Since when does a police dept. make their own laws? NYPD really needs a total ass whipping....in public.

NYPD doesn't make the laws; it's the janitorial service for Wall Street and doing what it's told.  Wall Street said clean up the park and they cleaned up the park.

so, they were only following orders?

Why is the city cleaning a private park?

great question Jim, GREAT QUESTION!

That's just another example--private property maintained by the public tax.  Classic.

As much as I had problems with a lot of the ways OWS went about a cause I do believe, this was just wrong.  I'm not here to gloat over this and for those who are,  free Speech means defending the right to speech you don't like and may find completely repulsive, because by doing so you're defending your own rights.

Thank you.

Look at all the TRASH that liberals leave behind. TSK TSK. FOR SHAME. I thought you hippies loved the enviroment!?

flag and ignore the trolls people

Yes, well, when I'm forced out of a place by the police, I don't usually have time to clean up after myself.

Tony Baloney is that you?  How is that pepper spray finger healing?

Devil's Advocate here:
How was this photograph taken by the AP if the press wasn't allowed into Zuccotti? How were members of the media pepper sprayed if the press wasn't allowed into Zuccotti? How was there a live feed from the NY Post, NY1, NYT etc from Zuccotti as this was happening this mornig if the press wasn't allowed into Zuccotti?

I was down there this morning and there was plenty of press at Zuccotti, outside Zuccotti, and following the march from Zuccotti. A NY1 news van was parked across the street Zuccotti at Trinity and Cortlandt Streets. In fact, the some of the press was tipped off earlier in the day and was able to embed themselves down there. I followed the march from Zuccotti to Foley that eventually zig zagged thru the streets to Ann and Broadway, and then back to Foley—it was mostly peaceful. I did witness a young man starting fires in trash cans, spoke with him briefly, and he said he wanted the cops to follow him, that's why he started the fires—f*cking narcissist—thankfully no one followed his lead.

maybe this morning it was allowed... but last night, all press/media was barred from the area

Fascism is alive and well in the states. RECALL BLOOMBERG!!!!!!!!! Spread the word. Put to task those that abuse us!!!

This is no democracy people!! This is NOT a democratic country in any way!!! We are subject to what the mayor, the NYPD, the MTA, the landlords, the Government and Republicans want. Yes, the people with money are the ones who more often than not enjoy this “democracy” as they start their days not caring about anything but their wellbeing. Democracy? Think DEMOCRAZY!!!!

Why would you toss the republicans in to your rant?  The democrates are just as bad. Look at Obama and his bail outs to bankrupt energy companies????  I don't see you complaining about that.

There are PLENTY of progressives out there that do complain about that, and other examples of Obama's habit of embracing Bush's precedents and shoving them further in the wrong direction  (warrantless wiretapping, anyone?).

The United States of America has never been a democracy - it was founded as a constitutional republic

And constitutional republic is one of the many forms democracy can take.

You might as well say that a Maple tree is not a tree because it is Maple.

It's not that simple http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C...

Then let's stop calling it a democratic country

Great idea!  Alert the media please

DAAAMMMMN!  parties over follks.  Go back to your homes.  OWS GTFO!  WOOOWOOO!

Sorry to disappoint you - this is far from over

It's been over for about a month now, sorry. This movement has only ever been about hippies versus the cops. That's all it ever has been about and all it ever will be about.

You are entitled to your opinion, but that's all it is - an opinion

This will only fan the flames..

Unreal that the NYPD can just ignore THE CONSTITUTION whenever it wants.

Free press? What free press?

city health code?

There's a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware

I for one welcome our new corporate overlords.  Or wait, scratch that, the opposite.  Huh!

Watching the Occupiers whine last night during the raid was spectacular.

If you really enjoy watching the misery of others then you should do some world traveling!

It is pretty shortsighted to chuckle at the curtailment of freedom just because you've been told you disagree with someone's political positions.  Whether or not you are perfectly happy bearing the economic burden for corporate risk, whether or not you mind the sale of the government to business, is immaterial to the matter at hand.

OK.  Let's play that game, then.  Let's focus on the matter at hand.

Show me, will you, the case law that establishes the public's right to protest in any way, at any place, at any time they choose.

Because I'm a decent guy, I'll save you a little legwork:  the public doesn't have that right.  The court system and our legislature has repeatedly backed common sense, content neutral restrictions on the right to assembly.  You are allowed to protest.  You aren't allowed to permanently occupy public space (or in this case private-ish space) for whatever purpose you like.

If you actually take a moment to think about this, it makes sense.  Would you allow anti-abortion protestors to pull any tactics they like in protesting Planned Parenthood?  I wouldn't.  There are limits to your right of expression and assembly.  The fact that, in this particular case, it works against your agenda is no excuse for ignoring sensible laws and policies protecting everyone's rights.

Not everyone is behind the OWS movement despite your constant declarations of "we are the 99%."

Ignoring the overbreadth of your strawman argument, let's assume for the sake of argument that erecting tents and other structures in Zuccotti Park exceeds the First Amendment rights of the protestors. That does not excuse the police operation last night. What should have happened is that the property owner should have gone to court to seek an injunction enforcing the scope of its alleged park rules that prohibit the erection of tents.  Soesn't it bother you and shouldn't you be questioning why the NYPD is being utilized to enforce private rules in a private park on the taxpayer's dime? Isn't it the obligation of the owners to manage the park in a manner consistent with its contractual obligations and city planning commission regulations? You bet it is! Something else is going on here where the City, obviously aware that it could be saddled with liability for the destruction of private property (i.e. the protestors' possessions) felt a need to act in the most destructive manner possible to enforce a ban on tents. Now it will be city taxpayers picking up the tab for another stupid decision by Bloomberg. Watch as these protestors collect money over the next year or two for the City's stupidity in raiding the park and destroying the property of the protestors. But the City wanted this result, just like they wanted the protestors to march on the Brooklyn Bridge 45 days ago. Bloomberg doesn't care that taxpayers will be picking up the tab. He will be long gone as mayor when the bill comes due. Wake up people!

Oh you are right!  I DEFINITELY said that the public has the "right to protest in any way, at any place, at any time they choose."  YUP, absolutely not painting a Straw Man argument, no sir!

It is funny you mention the court system next, because-- ha ha ha, this is funny, particularly-- the court system actually-- ha ha ha, are you ready?-- actually did rule about this particular protest!  Just this morning!  Crazy, right?  So I guess we don't have to speculate about that.

Oh good, now we're going to talk about Anti-Choice protesters!  This is a fun game, lets talk about that, & lets bring up Westboro Baptist Church!  Playing the equivalency game is fun, because it highlights the difference between, say, peaceful protests against corporate & government corruption & the worst of the worst.  This is great.  Yes!

Good work, though.  I think you've made a real contribution here.  I can use this scarecrow in my harvest themed Thanksgiving celebrations!

Let the burning of the sleeping bags begin. It's Berlin 1933 all over again.

Time to play the irony game:

You wrote: It's Berlin 1933 all over again.

Well they did destroy the OWS Library of about 5,000+ books. 

Of course we can have the NYPL, which is pretty good too.  I go to the main library a lot (which is where I now go job hunting since I got laid off - wish I were kidding), which is named after Stephen A. Schwarzman (the billionaire).  When Blackstone went public in 2007, it was revealed that he making over a $1M/day (and not paying jack into Social Security nor income taxes).

What did Schwarzman say about Obama's proposal to raise the carried interest tax (which allows Private Equity managers like himself get taxed at %15, whereas unemployed me was taxed at over 33-40% (once you include Social Security) before I was laid off),

“It’s a war,” Schwarzman said of the struggle with the administration over increasing taxes on private-equity firms. “It’s like when Hitler invaded Poland in 1939.”http://www.thedailybeast.com/n...

To recap:

1. NYPD destroys a library they don't agree with. 

2. We're free to use the public library

3.  The main library is named after the man who donated about $100MM to expand it.

4.  The man who donated it, has several $ Billion more than he otherwise would , because he pays less taxes than me or any other working person. 

5. Trying to raise his taxes so he pays his fair share (he pays less than 15%) is like Hitler invading Poland.


***

Please President Obama, do not raise taxes on the hedge funders and PE guys, otherwise, who will donate to our Libraries!!?!?!?!

The books live!

http://yfrog.com/nzdr7ndj

They didn't destroy the library. All possessions, including the library, are available to be picked up at the Sanitation Dept tomorrow on 57th.

LAWL. "At the Sanitation Dept" is code for "in the filthy trash pit we threw the crushed remains into." I'm serious (and look, it's the Daily News for chrissakes): http://www.nydailynews.com/new...


And more than that, we all knew it at the time they loopingly announced it in the Park (for, like, 5 minutes before they started bulldozing and trash-trucking everything). It was a nasty and sarcastic comment repeated as if it were a generosity. Mayor Bloomberg is a shameless liar.

And Commissioner Kelly... Thursday morning, no sooner than he had arrived at the scene of the protest at Beaver and William, the 50 or so cops present began to escalate a peaceful but tense situation recklessly and illegally. 25-30 riot police cleared the intersection in the blink of an eye. Every soul in the Intersection, at least 100, were pushed onto a small sidewalk in literally like 30 seconds, causing several injuries and leading to 5 or 6 stupid face-shoved-into-concrete arrests, including one that I was told by another journalist, was a journalist. My get tells me it was either on Kelly's orders (given the timing) or on some teacher's pet nonsense. It was the most ridiculous and just downright stupid use of police force I've seen the NYPD demonstrate the entire time I've been involved in OWS, including the pretty brutal eviction. It was nuts.

I like what you wrote because it occurred to me that these mega rich who donate money to hospitals and the arts think they are so great for doing it when it really just serves their own PR interests, tax benefits, and egos.  If we taxed these guys more the public could have enough to fund these endeavors, like libraries as you cited, without having to kowtow to the billionaires.  There could still be very rich people who donate money for altruistic purposes, but it sucks that we need to rely on people with obscene wealth to have nice things like libraries.

 If we taxed these guys more the public could have enough to fund these endeavors, like libraries as you cited, without having to kowtow to the billionaires.

BINGO!!!!

I agree 100% if these philanthropists were really making donations out of pure intent or good will they would do so anonymously - they are not making donations to benefit the masses, they are buying a good name, publicity, legacy, etc.  It is a sick game.

Probably a fair point, but then what?  Suppose an activist group is funded by "anonymous donors."  Now that's shady? Well, kinda, I can see that, too.  So then you ask, and find out about, who the funders of x,y,z are.  

We can't make ourselves crazy with shadowboxing.

I don't know the specific rules and laws but unless someone drops a bunch of cash in to a collection box there is no way to make a genuinely anonymous donation - all I'm saying is they don't have to put their name on everything, get media attention / call attention to themselves, etc.  Make a donation if you really want to but don't go looking for adulation, if those that receive the donation want to make a big deal out of it then politely turn them down.  If you are doing something for the right reasons you do so out of altruism not for what it does for you.

Sure, man.  We totally agree.  I'm just sayin', if you wanna be suspicious, you can play it both ways.  


Personally, I'd favor "anonymous, but ask and we'll tell you all about ourselves" as a stance for philanthropic stuff.

I saw that dude's house. Well, the house that his horses live in. Even other hedge fund folks don't like him.

slippery slope nattyb, your reaching for a really big stretch. Dilutes your point.

"I'm putting it on ebay," he said. "I want my grandkids to know that I had a copy of this notice."

Hold on...  If you wanted your grandkids to know that you had it, wouldn't you, you know, keep it?  Isn't putting it on ebay going to accomplish the exact opposite?

Not if his children buy it.

That's the same thing I got out of it.  That and the guy is clearly for sale.

Recall Bloomberg!

I suspect it's just the 1% or so of the anti-social ones who show up regularly on these threads, but I wonder how many cops trying to get by like the rest of us would vote for Ray Kelly for mayor after the shit he and his boss have pulled.

Wow, we truly live in a fascist society then....

almost as much as "socialist". lawl

the word Fascist is very over used these days

from Merriam-Webster:  fascism - 1 often capitalized a political philosophy, movement or regime that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized and often autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition.

It doesn't take much imagination to understand that this definition, especially if the "race" in question is the moneyed elite, fits the New York City of the last 24 hours perfectly. 

It also succinctly describes the direction this entire country is heading.

Yeah, if they were really fascists they would have burned those 5,500 books instead of just throwing them out.

I know police are doing what they're told but I don't feel sorry for them.  They have a choice.  Ethics and morals aren't just things you dump when it's no longer convenient.

exactly, to borrow a phrase "all that evil needs to flourish is that good men do nothing" - if the cops were truly good men, and women, they would refuse to do the bidding of evil.

you don't have kids to feed I take it?

I truly feel sorry for *most* of the cops

It's a tricky spot - and if I was a cop not sure how I would handle it.

Nice work, Christopher Robbins. All night long. Thanks.

The police are being misused for political purposes, it is very sad.

THIS IS STILL AMERICA RIGHT?!?!  WHAT THE FUCK

You really need this explained to you?  OK...

It is really quite simple:  the OWS can't do whatever it wants.  There are limits to their ability to protest, set forth in a couple centuries worth of legislation and case law.  Though their resistance to local laws is admirable, they are not legally allowed to occupy a public space for any purpose they intend.

Given the tenacity of the OWS movement and the recent reactions to the dismantling of occupations in other cities, the NYPD took precautions when dismantling the OWS encampment.  Keeping people out of the immediate area of a large scale police action isn't exactly old news.  This happens a lot, no matter how unseemly it might be to those who currently have the police breathing down their necks.

A lot of folks here would like to conflate the actions of the police last night with, say, police arresting and charging photographers for taking pictures of them in the line of duty in plain sight on public property.  In reality, these actions couldn't be more different.  Here, the officers were expecting resistance (rightly so, IMO) and took precautions to keep people away from the scene.  Again:  officers are legally allowed to keep people away from an area if they thought there was a chance they could interfere with their actions.  This isn't controversial to anyone who has looked into the laws surrounding police actions.

There's a lot of bluster here about freedoms and fascists.  Unfortunately for all of you, the facts aren't really on your side.

you keep repeating about how they are allowed to keep the area clear to prevent people from interfering with their actions..was there an actual threat that reporters were going to interfere?  you just keep repeating this rhetoric on how police are allowed to keep people from areas, and that's true..when it is for good reason.  obviously, the reason behind keeping people out of the park wasn't to keep them from interfering with the police (at least in regards to press/news/reporters), but rather the reason was to prevent others from seeing the abuse of power that was taking place

The Press have a privilege and responsibility to report what is in the public's interest that is protected by the 1st Amendment.  To curtail the news gathering operations of the Press in the manner done by the NYPD is in direct violation of their Constitutional freedoms.  Thing is:  do you really want to live in a world where the NYPD have a large sayso in deciding what is best for you?

I don't need you to explain anything to me thanks.  There is rampant corruption in this country and those that are in power and have influence will do anything and everything to keep their power.  A popular uprising will not be pretty or lawful at times but if enough people want change they will do whatever is needed to bring about that change.

I find all of this abhorrent, but I can't say I didn't chuckle when I heard the Post reporter was put in a choke hold. I know this makes me a bad person, so be it.