After aligning themselves with the Occupy Wall Street movement, the United Federation of Teaches believes the NYPD has put their offices under constant surveillance. "I'll put it this way," UFT President Michael Mulgrew tells NY1, "We are a very safe building at this point in time since we seem to have all our exits and entrances are all being watched."
After the threat of eviction from Zuccotti Park last week, the UFT has allowed the protesters to store their personal and donated items in a vacant floor of 52 Broadway, a few blocks from the demonstrations. Current OWS sanitation chair Max Hodes told us last week that no one is allowed to sleep in the space, and that everyone is allowed one bag per person.
NYPD spokesman Paul Browne denied that they've been ramping up surveillance on the UFT. "When police saw individuals wheeling boxes into Zuccotti Park with the union's address on it, we investigated to make sure people weren't taking valuables from the location uninvited. We subsequently determined it had been donated by the union." Asked why their cars were still stationed outside 52 Broadway, the NYPD noted that "it's a busy area."
