Mayor Bloomberg declared “Occupy Wall Street had predicted on their website that tens of thousands would be participating in today’s protests, but there have been far fewer – and so far they have caused what can accurately be described as minimal disruptions to our city,” Hit the jump to read the rest of the story.
@WiLMajor
They didn’t occupy Wall Street for long, shut down the Brooklyn
Bridge, or win many new fans.
And by Thursday night, the thousands of protesters flooding lower Manhattan seemed to have worn out their welcome after tying the Financial District in knots.
Two days after losing their two-month-old encampment at Zuccotti Park, the day of demonstrations felt more like a final hurrah.
Their vow to get many more out in the streets fizzled, Mayor Bloomberg declared.
“Occupy Wall Street had predicted on their website that tens of thousands would be participating in today’s protests, but there have been far fewer – and so far they have caused what can accurately be described as minimal disruptions to our city,” he crowed.
Unless you were in the thick of it.
“Today they proved that they’re able to piss off the 99% by stopping them from getting home,” said City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Queens). “In my opinion, this is their last gasp.
“With silly stunts like this, they’ve angered people they’re supposed to represent.”
The protesters, still smarting over their defeat at Zuccotti in a city courtroom, took to the streets by the hundreds Thursday morning in an effort to show that the movement’s anti-greed message endured.
Later, several thousand union members and college students joined late day marches in Union, and then Foley squares.
By the time marchers crossed the bridge into Brooklyn as night fell, there were nearly 300 protesters arrested – including a symbolic 99 busted on a bridge ramp hours after the protesters failed to delay the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange.
Among those arrested in the evening protest were City Councilman Jumaane Williams (D-Brooklyn), City Councilwoman Melissa Mark Viverito (D-Manhattan) and health care workers union president George Gresham.
They all sported white T-shirts reading “99 Percent,” and chanted “All day, all week, Occupy Wall Street” before police took them into custody.
“The rich don’t care about us,” said James Frazier, 52, a union organizer. “There’s no more middle class. I work, and I’m poor.”
The massive police presence during the protests only emphasized the cost to the city: An estimated $3 million a month on overtime.
DN
