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Michael Bloomberg: Wall Street Protesters Can Stay Indefinitely
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said on Monday the Occupy Wall Street protesters can camp out in Zuccotti Park in downtown Manhattan for as long as they want.
As long as demonstrators do not break the law, Bloomberg says the city will permit them to stay. (AP Photo)
Zuccotti Park, the movement’s unofficial headquarters located just blocks from Wall Street, is a privately owned, publicly accessible park where protesters have gathered for 24 days. Bloomberg said as long as demonstrators do not break the law, the city will permit them to stay, the Wall Street Journal reported.
"The bottom line is – people want to express themselves. And as long as they obey the laws, we’ll allow them to,” Bloomberg said before marching in the Columbus Day Parade on Fifth Avenue. “If they break the laws, then, we’re going to do what we’re supposed to do: enforce the laws.”
The mayor told the WSJ he has “no idea” how long the protest will last, but added that he thinks “part of it has probably to do with the weather.”
Bloomberg has previously spoken out against Occupy Wall Street and slammed the protesters last week, saying their attack on banks could harm one of the city’s major employers.
“The protests that are trying to destroy the jobs of working people in this city aren’t productive,” Bloomberg said during his weekly radio show on Friday.
Brookfield Office Properties, the owner of the park, had no statement on Monday in light of Bloomberg’s comments. Last week, Brookfield said many of the protesters are ignoring basic park rules such as the ban on tents and sleeping bags. In the statement, the company added that the park has not been cleaned since Sept. 16 and sanitary conditions have “reached unacceptable levels.” Brookfield wrote that “we continue to work with the City of New York to address these conditions and restore the park to its intended purpose.”
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49 Comments so far
Show AllWell! How magnanimous of him.
Yes, how generous of our plutocratic mayor Bloomberg a.k.a. Little Lord Fauntleroy...the truth is Bloomberg's seeming 'generosity' toward the Occupy Wall St. democracy protesters likely played out something like this...the increasingly authoritarian NYPD brass likely went to Bloomberg and his lawyer "saying the protest need to be shut down, after all the protesters haven't been cowed and intimidated by our aggressive actions, mass arrests, clubbing incidences, provocations, insults and pepper-spray"..."the protesters need to know who controls this city, who sets the rules".
Bloomberg a.k.a. Little Lord Fauntleroy would like to unleash the NYPD on the Occupy Wall St. democracy protesters as his fellow corporatocracy buddies are undoubted urging him to do...but in reality Bloomberg's lawyers likely told him mass arrests of peaceful protesters who aren't obstructing anyone would be found unconstitutional (after costing the city lots of $$$ in lawsuits and settlements). Some Bloomberg advisor likely also said "Mike, remember we're supposed to be a democracy, you can't beat and crackdown on these protesters Tiananmen Square style, it's not good for your reputation"...
Bloomberg a.k.a. Little Lord Fauntleroy shouldn't fool anyone that he's "allowing" these protests...he had no choice but to stay out of the way.
you don't know shit about the mayor or the current police brass.
they've got more important things to worry about than kids in the park and the thing about this that would be most bothersome for them is having to deploy the cops and eat up the budget.
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Tiananmen Square style crackdown, sure.
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You're not being a jerk or anything.
I don't believe ~CrazyLiberal~ is beng a jerk or something as you suggest ~Fuster~.
The NY City police have done exactly what CrazyLiberal described, arresting 700 one day alone, clubbing protestors, mace and pepper spraying... What shit do you know about the mayor Fuster?
tell me Wayne about that awful police crackdown. how many cops have sent how many protesters to how many hospital beds?--------------------------------------------
you really think that he's NOT Crazy and a jerk to suggest that there's someone gotta warn Bloomberg "...you can't beat and crackdown on these protesters Tiananmen Square style," cause that's what the Mayor and the cops want?
No, I don't think he/she is a crazy jerk from what he/she posted,,, And did CrazyLiberal say the police hospialized anyone? __ They did some though, don't know the exact number, a few however needed medical treatment. . What CrazyLiberl wrote is what has happened so far with police involvement.,, that's all.
The fictional description of conversations was just a fun assumption,, but they could be close to reality... Bloomburg started by verbally blasting the demonstrators and rather harsh police action in some cases was taken for a peaceful protest by thousands of "we the people".
Btw,, what shit do you know about the NY City Mayor? __ I thought CrazyLiberal posted a good comment and disagreed with your reply to him/her that's all.. No sweat.
I haven't heard or read of a single demonstrator that spent a single night in a hospital. Neither has my nephew who's been part of the demo mist days.
I know a couple of things about the Mayor and know rather a bit more about the Police Commish.
I also know a good bit about how the previous mayor and his police brass would have worked the demonstrators. Might have been a few broken bones and a whole lot more harassment from them.
There simply hasn't been any crackdown and the only big scene was when the protestors decided to take over the Brooklyn Bridge. They got arrested for it, quite correctly and quite neatly and remarkably painlessly.
That was "no sweat"
Herpiderp, I have no idea what it's like to be poor and when I may delude myself into thinking I could understand it, I quickly surmise that it's so easy to get out of it through hard work. I'm singing a black slave song in my head just for you right now fuster.
I have to edit this if only to say that this is one of the meanest things I've ever said. Perhaps the scariest thing to experience is that you may be wrong in something you hold close to their heart. Your identity. I can't blame people for resisting and I understand the difficulty in change. I may be wrong too and I dream of exploiting that which can be exploited. It's there for the taking, or so it seems, so why not? Nobody has been jailed, there is no crime if it involves too many people and appears too confusing. Perhaps because of this, they have earned it.
Don't you worry about being too mean, nev. that doesn't seem to be your problem.
The protesters have not been stopped from expressing whatever it is that they're capable of expressing and they've been indulged more than they've been repressed.
They've got a nice little park to hang out in and even if they can't take over any bridges, they're still doing okay.
Yeah Fuster I haven't heard of anyone having to (spend the night) in a hos[pital either and you are correct about the Brooklyn Bridge issue... I see your points also, except I thought you were a bit harsh on Crazy Liberal... The no sweat was I meant our comments here aren't anything to get into a sweat or angry obout.
seems to me, Wayne, that it ain't me that there's plenty of anger being expressed and it ain't me doing most of the expressing.
I do believe you nailed it CrazyLiberal.
Then come election time, Little Lord Flaunteroy will need the votes of the 99%.
and what's your point.
An excellent question Peace Czarr... .. They don't need extra police forces for a peaceful protests unless it turns ugly... So far the ugly has been by the police.
But the demonstrators should clean up any messes they make in the privately owned park.
Get well organized for the long haul and start a shift of four on, four off, four on and then 12 hours off to go home till the nex t shift and no tents, tarps or sleeping in the park is necessary. No after dark protest is necessary.... Have a few hundred lounge chairs and coffe and water jugs there at the park, some soft music and waffle irons for good smell and snacks.
Take names of thousands of retirees, or unemployed, out of work volunteer on the job protesters who can spend a day or two there and set up a phone bank and a schedule, share homes or apartments for a day or two, etc, and never give up, no matter what the weather conditions are.
He is counting on peaceful protesters getting tired, wet and cold, finally going home for good, then it is back to business as usual.
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.
-- John F. Kennedy
y'know, eze, I think that you're right. he is expecting that hanging out in the park has only limited appeal and limited utility and that it's not, like, a goal for a lifetime.
if hanging out in the park is a peaceful revolution, then Bloomberg is making it possible.
blood of the revolutionary heroes will not be shed..and maybe a nice march to Red Cross HQ to donate some of that blood wouldn't be too counter-revolutionary.
So let's help make sure they have better tents and better sleeping bags. Local churches have offered them shower facilities. A blizzard might be more than folks could handle, however.
I was there today. We brought non-latex gloves which are used by food servers, since people are conscious of sanitation issues. The food is plentiful. There were guys folding tarps and sweeping up the walkways. Kids' activities. Art projects. Music.
The protesters are quite mannerly, despite what others may say. I hope they continue to develop.
blomber retreat from his initial description of the demonstrators aims was forced upon him by the public pressure. he was shown not in toon with the aspirations of the masses. and why should he? after all, isn't he one of the 1% billionaires that the demonstration is against?
He's using reverse psychology to take the wind out of the protesters sails.
I bet he, himself, does a backtrack if they take him up on it more than a few additional weeks.
Smart man. Why wound a spider that has a thousand babies on its back.
Well your analogy isn't great, when you squish mom with her thousand babies on her back you generally get the babies as well.
Translation, Soon they will be tossed out for CODE violations. And Bloomberg can say it wasn't me. Bottom line, You can be arrested and removed from Wall St. for a minor code violation, but not for major (white collar) felonies.
"The bottom line is – people want to express themselves. And as long as they obey the laws, we’ll allow them to," - Bloomberg (as if he's in charge and not merely our representative)
The people aren't seeking your approval. The people are demanding your consent.
The money that was spent by the cops bullying and screwing with people could have paid for at lot of portable toilet service! Bloomberg is a multiple billionaire, part of the greed problem. how nice of him to allow the people to speak. If this becomes violent it will be his fault. Wendell Potter is right that we should be demanding a decent health care system too, screw the insurance thieves and their millions in bonuses.
There is public health care in America. You can get it in any prison everyone qualifies.
Good one, the problem is, you are right.
Apparently there is one exception namely the ICE-houses.
He likely thinks that the people staying in the park want to be harrassed, so that giving them permission will take the wind out of their sails and they'll leave, unable to arouse their enemies against them, or gain concessions.
I hope the park people understand that the unions, with their large numbers of working people, are with them, and the park people need to be welcoming to them. The park people should NOT say they don't want them to be part of the Occupy! movement simply because union people have definite demands (like health care, jobs, decent working conditions and wages, etc.).
If any movement is to succeed, it must appeal to a broader base than students and out-of-work young people.............yes, it must.
During the 60's, it took years of educating the public on our own (hostile press, as now), many public demonstrations which got larger all the time, very large national coalitions which contained people from the Socialist Workers Party, Communist Party, Young Republicans, Young Democrats, Youth Against War and Fascism, Yippees, teachers' unions, college professors, various politicians, housewives, garbagemen, and so on, just to give you an idea of the depth of our antiwar coalitions.
Leadership (not a bad word - there are always leaders, acknowledged or not - acknowledged is better) was carefully chosen by large national meetings across the political spectrum because a primary goal in those coalitions was to end the war in Vietnam without losing our allies in the antiwar coalitions.
While it may not seem so as people get all cozy in their relationships in the park, bigger is better. More people must get involved.
I hope the park people aren't going to get into the thing of "others who weren't here from the beginning aren't really welcome now - we've evolved our own little grouplet and we're happy with how it's working out."
No, the education has to continue. Everyone new needs to be taught how to act democratically within the group, and keep handing out leaflets/newspapers with events that people can feel comfortable taking part in, like signing petitions, marching down the street, whatever.
It's not about how good the park people feel; it's simply not about their personal feelings; it's about building a large movement that will be - and this is critical - EFFECTIVE in gaining serious concessions from the powers that be.
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Yes, very good post!
let me also praise Cleanearth's post.
the protest is either about getting some positive change in the here and now ...or it's not.
I kinda doubt that setting up light housekeeping in the middle of a city park has any lasting value in and of itself.
It's not a private park. The citizens own it. Bloomberg and his NYPD thugs will find a way to make the demonstrators break the law, even if they have to harrass and plant evidence.
—Ed Rendell to Occupy Wall Street protesters: Go home—-
This is all wrong. It’s not at all how to deal with this crazy occupation movement made up of mannerless, graceless yokels claiming that they’re morally superior and are “entitled” to take over the whole park.
First, you do what Bloomberg just did and announce that they can stay long-term, if they’re nuts enough, as long as they don’t break any laws.
Next, you don’t laugh at them when they proclaim that the park belongs to them and only them. You get the police to keep counter-protesters away, to avoid violence.
Then you see that they have a way to get food in from the outside. If necessary, you set aside money to built up special paths that only they can use.
You provide water and electric service for them and keep a large police presence. You have the city government vote them special subsidies for the protesters to run educational programs teaching the divine mission of park occupation and allot welfare funding for any adult attending the “schools” and then maybe you allot a couple of city council seat just for protesters.
After that they get their representatives to explain the protesters needn’t obey the City or recognize it as a legitimate government and then they start throwing rocks at citizens who want to drive by the neighborhood at unholy times or dress in unapproved ways on God’s holy park’s vicinity.
Then the UN steps in and screws things up just when everything was great.
I think posters have hit on 2 key points
1) the weather - he is counting on Mother nature to freeze them out, so it seems to me one of the key issues for the logistics committee(s) of the group is how to figure out how to keep from freezing
2) "as long as they obey the law"
a) legal committee must widely spread just what that means
b) keep an eye out for new law, code actions that will squeeze them any more
The Mayor may have outsmarted himself - wouldn't be the first time smug officials have done that - if the movement can call his bluff ...
---b) keep an eye out for new law, code actions that will squeeze them any more---
if you've lived in urban American during the last 30 years, you might realize how incredibly unnecessary it is to pass any new laws or regulations to squeeze out squatters.
We're about over-regulated to the point where you can't even guess which existing agency or authority might whip out some summonses or whip up a couple of injunctions.
And there's not a reason on Earth to think Bloomberg is bluffing about just letting it go on like this. Right now, there's nothing going on that New Yorkers wont just accept as business as usual....
I feel sorry for anyone living nears this mess and having to deal with it in their daily life. Hopefully the weather will get them to move on.
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Yeah, we know where your sympathies lie.
Gee Mike, thanks that was mighty nice of you. Somehow I think the protesters were going to stay whether you let them or not.
If they removed them by force it would only serve to gain more public support for the protesters. Mikey knows this because there is no way in hell that the NYPD can be counted on not to overreact. They would bring in the scoops and start busting heads. Showing all the world our little police state pretending to be a democracy.
No doubt there is a part of this mob that would like to make that actually come to pass.
not really, Yossi. the protesters aren't going to stay unless some incident keeps the protest in the news. they're not accomplishing anything of substance and they're not going to keep getting attention if there's no conflict.
one day last week was cold and rainy and my nephew said that there were only about 100 people in the park with him.
The weather gets pretty raw down there pretty soon.
Winter in New York can be pretty bad if you're living outdoors.
All the homeless people in NY should join the protest. Get the unions to donate more tents. The homeless people can educate the protesters about why they are homeless and give the original protesters another issue to chew on.
"Brookfield wrote that “we continue to work with the City of New York to address these conditions and restore the park to its intended purpose.”
Oh, I guess that means they are going to give the public park back to the public. They can have their money back too.
So like, does this mean Bloomberg is admitting that the police crackdown on the protesters in the last weeks when they were not committing any crime was wrong?
what crackdown? Do you mean the arrests on the Brooklyn Bridge?
Beware of provocation! Stay non-violent.
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Re: Winter
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Focus the main, long-term occupation in Los Angeles during the cold months (mid-Nov.-mid-Apr.).
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Other occupations in most of the country during Winter should be more episodic, and designed with a specific purpose beyond public exposure and messaging of their general grievances.
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By the way, NO movement is going to have any real meaningful impact without "breaking the law". So that was pretty humorous by Bloomberg.
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Large actions like closing bridges/freeways/railways etc. should be done frequently. The point of a serious resistance movement is to cause as significant of a disruption in "business as usual" as possible. The fact is, cities will be hard pressed to make HUGE numbers of arrests on any kind of a regular basis. If the transport unions refuse to aid the police with their buses, this poses a logistical nightmare for cities/law enforcement in situations involving hundreds of arrests on a regular basis.
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Also, the group needs to raise funds to help pay for fines, so that those willing to commit acts of civil disobedience won't be dissuaded for financial reasons, particularly for those willing to be arrested multiple times (which we should hope is hundreds -- the city's jail system could ultimately become completely overburdened).
The slickest con men, like BO did in the last election, know that they need to tell you what you want to hear. They always agree and pander to you before they can hoodwink you. And that is exactly what this Bloomberg ploy is all about. Bloomberg is a 1% billionaire so you know exactly where he stands.
When he agreed that the protesters could stay indefinitely, he knew it was a bald faced lie. What he meant was that they could stay indefinitley as long their power was marginalized and they obeyed HIS laws and HIS orders.
Off with his head !