At May Day Demonstrations, Traffic Jams and Arrests
Robert Stolarik for The New York Times
May Day demonstrators and members of the Police Department clashed on
the Lower East Side of Manhattan on Tuesday. More Photos »
By ANDY NEWMAN and COLIN MOYNIHAN
Thousands of protesters converged on Lower Manhattan on Tuesday
afternoon in the culmination of May Day demonstrations organized by
the Occupy Wall Street movement, resulting in occasionally bloody
clashes and the arrests of more than 30 demonstrators.
Protesters turned out in the rain in Midtown Manhattan on Tuesday,
chanting in front of banks and corporate headquarters. More Photos »
All the arrests were on disorderly conduct charges, and most were of
people who were blocking traffic or resisting arrest, said Paul J.
Browne, the chief spokesman for the Police Department. Protesters were
arrested near Bryant Park in Midtown, on the Williamsburg Bridge, at a
park on the Lower East Side and near Washington Square Park.
In other cities, including Los Angeles and Seattle, demonstrators
snarled traffic and smashed windows. Protesters in Oakland, Calif.,
clashed with officers in riot gear, who fired tear gas. May Day
protests were also held around the world, with large crowds marching
in Manila and Tunis.
The number of arrests in New York was the most since the weekend of
March 17, when 73 protesters were held.
The themes on May Day were the ones that Occupy Wall Street has
sounded from the outset of the movement last fall — opposition to big
banks and the government that bailed them out after they helped cause
the recession.
"I just watched the whole economy becoming devastating, and no one
wants to hire me," Kezia Snyder, 59, a freelance chef who lives in
Chelsea, said at a rally in Union Square.
Protesters began the morning in the rain in Midtown, picketing and
chanting in front of banks, corporate headquarters and a restaurant
that is the subject of a class-action lawsuit. About four people were
arrested near Bryant Park, Mr. Browne said.
Then the protests moved downtown. Outside Sara D. Roosevelt Park on
the Lower East Side, officers pushed back a throng of protesters as
they tried to cross a street.
Near Washington Square Park, demonstrators carrying a banner that read
"On Strike" disregarded police warnings to stay on the sidewalk and
stepped onto Avenue of the Americas. Several officers tackled and
arrested them.
One man who was led away in cuffs had a bloody face.
As the sun began to set, thousands of people left Union Square and
began slowly marching south toward the financial district. At one
point, the marchers filled most of Broadway between Houston and Worth
Streets. About 9 p.m., a large crowd gathered near the Vietnam
Veterans Memorial Plaza, and later moved toward Hanover Square.
Reporting was contributed by Daniel Krieger, Ivan Pereira and Jennifer
Preston from New York, and Malia Wollan from Oakland, Calif.
More:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/02/nyregion/may-day-demonstrations-lead-to-clashes-and-arrests.html?_r=1&nl=nyregion&emc=edit_ur_20120502
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Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy
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Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy
--
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