Results tagged “protest”

Student activists have released two more videos to complement last week's footage of an NYPD officer violently arresting a protester during a march in solidarity with student protesters at the University of California. Both videos depict some of the activities leading up to the arrest of two individuals—neither of whom are actually enrolled at the New School, according to university spokeswoman Deborah Kirschner.

There's not much background on this video depicting the violent arrest of a demonstrator last night, but it's still a bracing way to start your day. New School students and their comrades brought the ruckus downtown to show solidarity with students at the University of California, who are occupying various administration buildings on multiple campuses to protest budget cuts and an increase in student fees, among other grievances.

Not a good couple of weeks for Access-A-Ride, the bike-lane blocking fleet of giant vans that shuttle infirm New Yorkers around town. A local news crew caught one driver sleeping on the job last week, but now maybe the fatigue makes sense: the Access-A-Ride headquarters in Long Island City has been infested with bed bugs since the summer of 2008! The situation's become so intolerable that workers picketed outside yesterday, and one employee, who brought the bugs home and had to throw out all her furniture, tells the Daily News, "They really need to clean this place. This is not a joke."

A judge found Councilman Charles Barron guilty of disorderly conduct for sitting in the middle of Tillary Street to protest the Sean Bell verdict. Unsurprisingly, the East New York Councilman — a one-time candidate for Brooklyn Borough President who is considering running for Council Speaker against Christine Quinn — had a message for the man responsible for his prosecution. "[Brooklyn District Attorney] Charles Hynes should be ashamed of himself," said Barron, who was sentenced to time-served, which was about six hours according to the Post. "He should not be allowed to come into any black church this Jan. 21 and celebrate Martin Luther King Day."

Some residents of the Upper West Side are outraged that a new business called Pet Fashion, mostly selling overpriced leashes and whatnot, is selling dogs from a puppy mill. The store, on Columbus Avenue between West 87th and 88th streets, often puts attention-getting pups on display in the front window, but West Side Spirit reports that "these dogs come from puppy mills, and the store is not welcome in the neighborhood."

Yesterday a 50-cent surcharge was tacked on to taxi fares as part of the state's MTA bailout, starting a cab ride with a $3 base fee... and no one is happy about it.

A network of earth-loving organizations (Waterkeeper Alliance, Rainforest Action Network, Sierra Club, and Friends of the Earth) descended upon 270 Park Avenue early this morning with a bevy of costumed demonstrators.

NYU students: When they're not doing porn to pay tuition or collecting food stamps, they're occupying administration buildings and issuing manifestos. But it's almost the end of October and there hasn't been a single sit-in from the Take Back NYU rebels, who made the big time in February with a 40-hour occupation and a hilarious hit video. So where are they now?

       

You may have noticed teams of people in orange vests whitewashing advertising billboards in Manhattan and Brooklyn today. They weren't employees of NPA, the company that maintains the billboards. In fact, they were part of a subversive network convened by the Public Art Campaign to take back hundreds of advertising locations that NPA has placed around the city.

Toward the end of last month, a video appeared on YouTube showing schoolchildren at Bernice Young Elementary School in Jersey chanting two songs in praise of President Obama. It was immediately pounced upon by the embittered demagogues-in-exile at Fox News, and their coverage of this important issue finally bore indignant fruit yesterday, when dozens of protesters recited their own chant outside the school: "Educate, don't indoctrinate; Educate don't indoctrinate."

The team behind the Yes Men movie are doing a great job getting audiences at Film Forum to participate in direct-action stunts after the screenings. On Wednesday night organizers persuaded most people in the audience to head over to a nearby Chase bank and write political stuff on the sidewalk with coal—because JP Morgan Chase underwrites Massey Energy, which does a lot of mountaintop removal coal mining. Anyway, last night they kicked it up a notch.

Allen Weber says he went to Pittsburgh last month to photograph the street protests at the G20 summit, but police say he behaved like just another anarchist. According to Pittsburgh police Officer Brian Nicholas, Weber was one of hundreds of demonstrators gathered in a plaza on the evening of September 24th, after police had ordered everyone to disperse. Nicholas was in the front seat of an armored SWAT truck, and he dropped a smoke grenade from the truck, about 15 feet from the crowd.

Have you seen this intense outtake from Children of Men, showing riot police blasting "fugees" with some sort of horrible "sound cannon"? Oh, actually, this isn't from a fictional movie about a dystopian police state; it's from last week in Pittsburgh, where G20 protesters had dared assemble without a permit from the government. For that, they were dispersed with the Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD), which some fear is loud enough to damage eardrums and even cause fatal aneurysms. Like Freedom Rock, you really need to turn it up, man:

Environmental groups are saying that the recently reopened High Line Park has gone too far in bringing nature to the heart of the city's meatpacking district, claiming that wood used for the park's bleachers, benches and decking is coming directly from the rainforests. We had heard similar complaints about wood at the nearby Standard, but now Rainforest Relief and New York Climate Action Group have unveiled a banner blocking the view of 10th Avenue from the bleachers calling out the raw state of the park. The groups say that that Forest Stewardship Council, the organization accrediting wood used by Friends of the High Line, is violating their own principles in approving wood from "ancient primary forests, including the Amazon" for use at the High Line. The entire press release from Rainforests of New York is after the jump.

Yesterday we got a press release announcing the imminent arrival of TGI Friday's in Union Square and thought, ho-hum, so it goes. Others were less complacent, and have vowed to thwart the militantly upbeat chain's plan to push Jalapeño Poppers by the historic old potter's field. These dissidents are fighting by any means necessary, including Twitter. The group Save Union Square says "follow us and help send a loud and clear message to The Riese Organization that we don't want their TGI Friday's. SAVE THE SQUARE!" Because if a corporate chain opens across the street from Union Square, it will be ruined—just like it is every morning when Babies R Us, Staples, Starbucks, Petco, DSW, Best Buy and Barnes & Noble fling open their doors. But if the Twitter account proves unable stop this suburban abomination, the Friday's will open in the space formerly occupied by Zen Palate, at a time of their choosing. And just to piss off everyone even more, the Riese Organization will also include a Tim Hortons in the same building, so opponents can wash down their rage with some weak Canadian coffee. But hey, at least TGI Friday got its start in NYC.

[UPDATE BELOW] Around 10:30 this morning, activists for the homeless cut through a fence and seized a vacant lot at 115th and Madison Ave in East Harlem; they say the property is owned by JPMorgan Chase, which is a "recent beneficiary of billions in taxpayer bailout money." The occupation, organized by the group Picture the Homeless, has drawn over 100 activists to the lot, and they've been busy turning it into a festive "tent village," with a casita, a stage, banners, barbeque grills, and two dozen tent structures—inspired in part by Depression-era Hoovervilles. On their blog the group says:

Continue reading "Homeless Activists Occupy Empty Lot In East Harlem"

A small but well-publicized group of homophobic, anti-Semitic Baptist zealots from Kansas brought their dumb message of hate to Manhattan this weekend, standing around with inflammatory signs like "The Jews Killed Jesus" outside a West Village synagogue that caters to gays and lesbians. But instead of straightening out the gays and bringing the Jews to Jesus, these hateful hayseeds actually succeeded in helping out one of their targets, the Congregation Beth Simchat Torah, which turned the demonstration into a fundraiser!

                     

Last night, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus opened its new one-ring circus in Coney Island. Mayor Bloomberg and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz were on hand to welcome the show, The Coney Island Boom-A-Ring—Mayor Mike even checked out the Monster Trucks.

Hundreds of demonstrators, alerted through Facebook and Twitter, gathered for a rally in Union Square last night in solidarity with Iranian opposition groups who have been protesting the results of last week's presidential election. According to this video, the peaceful rally seems to have gone off without incident, unlike in Iran, where some demonstrators have been beaten and killed after taking to the streets. Today in south Tehran, an estimated one million Iranians are marching to protest the election, which handed victory to incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Iran's authoritative Guardian Council has now offered to meet with reformist candidate Mir Hussein Moussavi, as well as the two other main opposition candidates, but it's unclear whether that overture will placate the increasingly enraged protesters. Here in New York, rally organizer Amid Amidi told Voice of America, "They are out there now fighting for democracy and reform, and I just want to say that people here in New York hear you. We hear your struggle and we are 100 percent behind you."

That protester who heckled Laura Bush and daughter Jenna Bush after their children's book tour hit the 92nd Street Y last year finally had his day in court, and a jury found him not guilty. Gary Talis, 24, wasn't arrested for heckling, but for allegedly assaulting the parents of a wheelchair-bound teenage girl when they tried to shut him up outside the venue. When Talis started yelling about how the First Lady is married to a war criminal as she left the Y, John Lovetro (pictured), allegedly responded, "What are you doing? Shut up. This is about a child and books...Get out of here! You're being a moron!" Lovetro (pictured), his wife Wendy, and the couple's daughter, Maureen, who suffers from cerebral palsy, then got into some kind of altercation with Talis. All three Lovetroses, plus a Secret Service agent, testified that Talis attacked them, but Talis and another witness convinced the jury that the Lovetroses were in fact going after him.

    

Yesterday, the much-ballyhooed gathering to demand that CBS fire talk show host David Letterman after his questionable jokes about Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's daughter (namely how A-Rod impregnated her by the 7th inning of a Yankees game and how Eliot Spitzer should be kept at bay) drew a few dozen protesters outside the Ed Sullivan Theater. Estimates are as high as 50 and as low as 15. But there was a lot of passion: Josephine Sarnok, carrying a "Over the Line, Dave" sign told Entertainment Weekly, “I’m outraged. It was a low blow. I’m insulted for women. I’m insulted for children. I’m insulted for families. I’m insulted."

Today some mermaids took to the streets of Lower Manhattan to speak their mind to members of the City Planning Commission, prior to their vote later this week on the City rezoning plan for Coney Island. The mermaids are readying for their big parade coming up next week, and are quite displeased with the plan that will reduce Coney's amusement district. Basically, the City is Eugene Levy and Coney supporters are Tom Hanks.

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared his re-election "real and free" and compared the violent protests that broke out after his victory to "passions after a football match." While his opponent, Mir Hossein Moussavi, claimed ballot irregularities, noting how polls showed he was leading over incumbent Ahmadinejad, Ahmadinejad said of the unhappy reactions, "It doesn't matter. Some people are sentimental and become excited...Their team has not won in the match." He also blocked access to web sites and text messaging. In Europe, hundreds of protesters gathered at the Hague in the Netherlands to dispute the results (the EU said it was "concerned about alleged irregularities") and NY1 reports that dozens of Iranians in the city, who were allowed to vote in the election at polling centers in Manhattan and Queens, protested outside the consulate yesterday. One said, "Many people went and voted in Iran for a change, and the results of our votes are not being respected in an unprecedented way in Iran."

About two dozen toll-tally fed up Staten Islanders disrupted traffic at the Verrazano Bridge toll booths for about 20 minutes yesterday by slowly paying the $10 toll in pennies to protest an imminent increase. 40-year-old Scott LoBaido led the motorcade to the lower-level midspan, where he climbed up on his 1989 Chevy Suburban's roof, blasted "Battle Hymn of the Republic" from the car stereo, and yelled, "Come on! Honk your horns!" The Verrazano cash toll will go up to $11 on July 12th, the E-ZPass toll will rise to $9.14, and the discounted E-ZPass toll for Staten Island residents will rise to $5.48. Explaining the protest to the Post, toll opponent Genevieve Grecco said, "You can't mess with Staten Island. We are going to make a fuss. We are human beings, not bank accounts you can constantly draw from." And another protester, Tina Bellino, unrolled the $10 worth of pennies she'd obtained from the bank and sprinkled them into several sandwich bags, telling the Staten Island Advance, "You didn't think I was going to make it easy for them [to count], did you?" Check out Fox News some has some great video interviews with the demonstrators.

A reader sent us this glimpse of the scene by NYU's Gallatin school and writes, "There are like 10-15 cops just standing at the corner and across the street because Take Back NYU"—of the Kimmel Center takeover—"is protesting again...against tuition hikes." NYU Local has more details: "The Gallatin Open House was briefly interrupted tonight when a group of about 15 TBNYU! protesters started pounding on the newly renovated building’s windows. This prompted an NYU administrator, the same one who busted through the Kimmel barricade, to dash outside and squelch. He told them he would have the NYPD remove them if they continued. They stopped." Take Back NYU notes there's a roundtable discussion about having a socially responsible finance committee at the school tomorrow.

       

Two New School students and one academically unaffiliated protester were arrested last night for blocking traffic on Fifth Avenue during a demonstration against police handling of last week's occupation of a university building. According to the New School Free Press, about 150 students, faculty, and supporters gathered outside the site of the occupation around 6 p.m. to condemn the NYPD and, once again, demand the resignation of president Bob Kerrey, who protesters blame for encouraging what they're calling a "brutal" and "violent" end to Friday's sit-in.

     

Yesterday was tax day, and, as you no doubt know, "tea parties" were held across the nation to protest the current state of the union, which is going to hell because the Muslim terrorist president wasn't even born in America, as these insightful demonstrators know all too well. Last February, a modest group of New Yorkers held their first tea party at City Hall, but yesterday close to 2,000 tea-baggers (yes, ha) spilled out of the park and onto Broadway, eventually overwhelming the wide street on both sides. Tea bags were in short supply, but there were plenty of signs ("Washington: You have run out of our money!"), derision ("If it were a bunch of Democrats this would be unruly!"), and chanting (ranging from "USA!" to "Abolish the Fed!"), which at times drowned out the speakers .

After the dust cleared in yesterday's New School building occupation and police confrontation that resulted in 22 arrests, demonstrations continued into the night Friday with around 200 protesters marching south from Union Square towards President Bob Kerrey's house before being blocked off by police officers at 11th Street.

       

[UPDATE BELOW] Well, that was short and sweet, and everybody gets out of here in time for lunch! Except for the protesters, who were promptly arrested in an efficient, well-organized raid. Because the students had been threatening to "shut down" the New School since April 1st, the fuzz had plenty of time to prepare, and Bob Kerrey wasn't about to let this thing turn into a prolonged media circus like the last one.

Lines have been drawn, and the Obama Fried Chicken saga is at a standstill. This weekend the NY Times reported that the outpost in Brooklyn had changed its name to "Popular Fried Chicken" after protesters, politicians and community leaders leaned on them. However, today amNewYork reports that the very same restaurant is now refusing to change their name. Manager Mohammad Jabbar told them “We are not changing the sign. Everyone is coming and saying they love the sign.” You know who doesn't love it? The White House. A spokeswoman there "said they frown on the use of a president's name for advertising." Reportedly the scheduled protest went down yesterday, and Rev. Al Sharpton and Councilman Charles Barron were both in attendance and say that the owners are playing games (hmm, free publicity games?). Meanwhile, the Obama Fried Chicken and Pizza on St. Nicholas just south of 116th Street has already changed the "Obama" to "Bam" on their signage.