Will Mew York City's Mayor Michael Bloomberg engineer a Soylent Green showdown, or a back-handed approach to sweeping free speech protestors from Zuccotti Park [Liberty Plaza]?"
Bloomberg Announces Zuccotti Park Cleanup While Meeting Protestors: Demonstrators Say Mayor Pulled A Fast One And Is Trying For A Clear Out
October 12, 2011 11:59 PM
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Wall Street protestors are being told they will have to pack up and leave — at least temporarily. However, some activists are now accusing Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who personally stopped by Zuccotti Park on Wednesday, of dirty politics.
Greeted by a mix of cheers and jeers, Bloomberg ordered the “Occupy Wall Street” demonstrators to get out of of the plaza long enough for the area to be sanitized on Friday morning by Brookfield Properties.
However, protestors say the cleanup sounds more like a clear out.
After 26 days of food, trash and other debris piling up high for pickup or recycling, Bloomberg’s office said while protesters “have a right continue to protest…the last three weeks have created unsanitary conditions and considerable wear and tear on the park.”
“Like wear and tear on what? On marble and concrete? Like how do we wear and tear that?” asked Will Schneider.
Schneider is not alone in his skepticism of the mayor’s cleanup plan. Other occupants are also none too pleased about the his announcement and told CBS 2′s Derricke Dennis that they were keeping the area clean by themselves.
“We are working 24/7; we do not rest. We encourage cleanliness. We encourage everyone to take care of their belongings and pack it up neatly,” said Lauren DiGoria of Clifton, N.J.
Protesters said the city has been trying to get them to leave for weeks, and with this plan to clean the park in stages on Friday, many say there’s now a clever excuse.
But the owner of the park, Brookfield Office Management, claims the area has not been maintained. It wrote to Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, saying “conditions at the Park have deteriorated to unsanitary and unsafe levels.”
For video and more of the article, see the WCBS-TV site.
Echoes of Tompkins Square Park battles between police and squatters and protestors, in 1988, 1989, 1995.
See: Radio journalist Paul DeRienzo's site: http://pdr.autono.net/tapecat.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/03/nyregion/protest-in-tompkins-square-park-draws-300-officers-and-16-arrests.html
http://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/31/nyregion/riot-police-remove-31-squatters-from-two-east-village-buildings.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm
The last reference: "Using a tanklike armored vehicle and carrying riot gear, hundreds of officers moved in . . ." --on squatters in city-owned buildings. Shades of Soylent Green?
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