Last night, the Mayor’s office was threatening to evict OWS from its park by Wall street. Mass mobilization of supporters and wide responses averted this. One person said to us, “Occupy Wall Street is the only think happening in New York these days… it has gone from being an event to something dominating events.” How to wield, consolidate, continue, defend, expand, radicalize…. all of this confronts everyone, and yet is advancing without anyone’s specific permission.From CBS news:
Clash near Wall St. after park showdown averted
NEW YORK – Just a few hours after protesters learned they’d be able to stay indefinitely at the lower Manhattan plaza where they’ve been camped out for a month, there was a confrontation between police and protesters after the demonstrators marched away from the plaza named Zuccotti Park, CBS News station WCBS-TV reports.
A group of protesters headed south on Broadway toward the New York Stock Exchange. It swelled quickly and wound up in a confrontation with police as they tried to gain access to Wall Street. A standoff occurred.
A Legal Aid Society observer reacts after being run over by a New York City police officer as Occupy Wall Street demonstrators march through the streets near Wall Street Oct. 14, 2011, in New York. The cleanup of a plaza in lower Manhattan where protesters have been camped out for a month was postponed, sending cheers up from a crowd that had feared the effort was merely a pretext to evict them.
A Legal Aid Society observer reacts after being run over by a New York City police officer as Occupy Wall Street demonstrators march through the streets near Wall Street Oct. 14, 2011, in New York.
(Credit: AP Photo)
Police motorcycles in a V-like formation moved toward the protesters in the standoff. One man lost his balance and was run over by a police motorcycle. Police descended on the protester and got him out from under the bike, but violence broke out.
(Credit: AP Photo)
Police motorcycles in a V-like formation moved toward the protesters in the standoff. One man lost his balance and was run over by a police motorcycle. Police descended on the protester and got him out from under the bike, but violence broke out.
Radio station WINS-AM reported that police descended on some protesters, wielding their nightsticks and batons. A police captain reportedly hurled his megaphone and wound up rolling around in the street with a protester. A WINS-AM reporter said he was pushed around by police.
A number of arrests have been made, WINS-AM reports.
The protesters ended up circling back and returning to Zuccotti Park.
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Earlier, a planned cleanup of the plaza was postponed early Friday, sending cheers up from a crowd that had feared the effort was merely a pretext to evict them.
Deputy Mayor Cas Holloway said the owners of the private park, Brookfield Office Properties, had put off the cleaning. Supporters of the protesters had started streaming into the park in the morning darkness before the planned cleaning, forming a crowd of several hundred chanting people.
“I’ll believe it when we’re able to stay here,” said protester Peter Hogness, 56, a union employee from Brooklyn. “One thing we have learned from this is that we need to rely on ourselves and not on promises from elected officials.”
But protester Nick Gulotta, 23, was jubilant.
He originally held up a sign referring to Mayor Michael Bloomberg that said: “Bloomberg Don’t Evict Occupy Wall Street.” People cheered and clapped him on the back when he scratched out the “don’t” and replaced it with “didn’t.”
“It shows when people work together, you really can make a difference and make justice happen,” Gulotta said.
Meanwhile, dozens of police in riot gear moved into a park near the Colorado State Capitol early Friday morning and evicted hundreds of Occupy Denver protesters who were given a deadline of 11 p.m. Thursday to clear out.
Protesters moved to sidewalks and streets across from the state Capitol, and dozens locked arms around a makeshift kitchen after police threatened to remove it. Authorities took down dozens of tents, but there were no clashes since the action began around 3:30 a.m. Friday. And police say there have been no arrests.
