May Day Protests Spread Across Manhattan
Protesters kicked off May Day in Midtown Manhattan with apparently
peaceful pickets outside the offices of major corporations and dozens
of smaller targets, including restaurants and bank branches.
Early rains seemed to dampen turnout Tuesday morning, but as the skies
let up more demonstrators streamed into Bryant Park, the staging area
designated by organizers from Occupy Wall Street, labor unions and
immigrant groups. From there, protesters fanned out to picket lines
across Midtown.
Police spent the morning shuttling between protest gatherings and had
put up barricades around Union Square, the planned site of a rally
later Tuesday.
The organizers see Tuesday's events as the opening of a new era for
the anti-corporate movement, with a reinvigorated alliance that will
extend into the coming months. But the day of marches across Manhattan
is also a test of whether Occupy Wall Street's strength and popular
appeal will reignite after a dormant winter. A fizzled May Day could
signal the end of organizers' ability to draw mainstream support.
More on May Day
Metropolis: 'Occupy' Plans May Day of Moving Protests May Day Rallies
Hit Europe
Occupy Wall Street has been planning since January for a spring
resurgence, and organizers selected May Day—a workers' holiday
observed in many countries but usually ignored in the U.S.—as their
coming out. But organizers on Friday acknowledged the morning rains as
an early obstacle.
"It's hard to say, but the rain certainly never helps," said Mark
Bray, a designated media spokesman, as he stood outside the Bank of
America BAC +2.70%building. "People are going to trickle in as the day
rolls on. When it's all said and done, it's going to be a good
turnout."
Groups of pickets came together and departed from Bryant Park
throughout the morning, heading off to select locations in Midtown.
With dozens of places on the picket list, some were just stopping
points on the way to other locations.
Leon Egberts, a 24-year-old student from the Netherlands, held a sign
to gather additional protesters: "Chase CCF -1.41%needs bodies," it
read, a reference to planned picket outside a bank branch.
"We announce when pickets are leaving, when they're successful, when
we need more people," Mr. Egberts said. Most of the pickets, he said,
would last for about two hours, or until police arrive to break them
up.
Outside the New York Times NYT +0.55%building on Eighth Avenue and
40th Street, the crowd of protesters seemed to disperse as they were
approached by police.
Mr. Bray said that was part of the plan. "Some of the picket lines are
temporary, then move on to something else," he said. "It's not a
cat-and-mouse thing."
Among the biggest targets of sustained picketing so far is Bank of
America, which is located near Bryant Park, and the News Corp. NWSA
+1.86%Building five blocks north. (News Corp. is the parent company of
The Wall Street Journal.)
Bank branches have also become popular targets, with those in the path
of marches attracting protesters' ire.
Outside the Bank of America building on Sixth Avenue, a line of metal
barricades hooked together blocked the entrances. Building security
used a barricade as a checkpoint for employees, checking IDs for those
trying to enter the building.
Almost as many police officers—some in riot gear—were stationed near
the building as there were protestors in the early hours. Moving in a
circle, about 50 picketers chanted "Liars and thieves protected by
police" and "Hey Hey, BoA, how many homes did you take today."
Brad Shields, 54, traveled from his hometown of Honolulu to volunteer
with Occupy Wall Street. He staffed an information table with May Day
maps covered in clear duct, an improvised waterproofing technique in
the face of the early drizzle.
He said he spent $700 on his flight to New York, and simply showed up
at Bryant Park on Friday morning to volunteer. "I'm very inspired by
you people and the energy of this movement," said Mr. Shields, a
freelance photographer. "It's been very well organized. It's sort of
like a Quaker-style decision-making."
At one early picket site, outside ABC's television studios in Times
Square, a handful of union workers gathered in front of the windowed
set used in live broadcasts. William Bores, a technical director for
the network and a member of Local 16, held a sign reading, "Disney DIS
+1.66%/ABC unfair to union workers."
"We have to do whatever we can to draw attention both for the public
and also ABC," said Mr. Bores, who said he has been working without a
contract for 14 months.
"I don't want to hurt my company," he said about the protest, "but at
the same time if they don't listen at the negotiation table, they will
have to listen to us on the street."
The grievances varied depending on the organization being picketed.
About 40 blocks south of Bryant Park, some 80 New York University
students, faculty, local residents protested outside Bobst Library.
The picket signs included slogans like "Education is a right not a
commodity" and "Expand minds not NYU's campus."
Dennis Geronimus, associate professor of art history at NYU, was in
the picket line and said he opposed the university's expansion plans.
"This is a critical moment and if we don't do something to stop this
now it's going to compromise the university not only fiscally but
intellectually," he said.
"One of the best things that Occupy has done is make it so protests in
the streets are not totally anomalous," said Stuart Schrader, a PhD
candidate in American studies at NYU.
—Pervaiz Shallwani contributed to this story.
More:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303916904577377920592687492.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy
--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy
--
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