By Hunter Walker and Matt Chaban 11/15/11 1:43am

Occupy Wall Street

Less than 12 hours ago, everything seemed so settled. (Getty)

NYPD Clears Zuccotti Park of Occupy Wall Street Encampment, Councilman Rodriguez Arrested [Updated]

At 1:15 this morning, Occupy Wall Street sent out a press release that they had been surrounded by the NYPD, which was clearing the park: “Liberty Square (Zuccotti Park), home of Occupy Wall Street for the past two months and birthplace of the 99% movement that has spread across the country and around the world, is presently being evicted by a large police force.”

Three minutes later, the mayor’s office said as much, and not much else, on Twitter: “Occupants of Zuccotti should temporarily leave and remove tents and tarps. Protestors can return after the Park is cleared.” Read More

By Drew Grant 11/09/11 3:31pm

Occupy Wall Street

Video

David Crosby and Graham Nash in Zuccotti (Getty Images)

Crosby and Nash's Occupy Wall Street Concert [Video]

Yesterday afternoon, Zuccotti Park members were treated to a musical set from two thirds of 70s folk rock supergroup Crosby Stills and Nash. If there was some media outlet out there that had yet to compare Occupy Wall Street to Woodstock, David Crosby and Graham Nash‘s arrival on the scene with a set list of five classic hits (including “Long Time Gone” and “Teach Your Children,” the latter of which probably only struck those over 40 in the park as somewhat ironic,) would have rectified that immediately. Before launching into “They Want It All,” Mr. Nash dedicated the song to “the guys in the buildings down here.”

Watch the entire performance below, courtesy of Vimeo user JoeyBoots. Read More

By Drew Grant 11/09/11 1:13pm

Occupy Wall Street

It it tents, or crime, that is on the rise in Zuccotti Park?

Someone to Watch Over Me: On the Front Lines with Occupy Wall Street’s ‘Safety Cluster’

On Monday afternoon, several men and women sat in a circle in the atrium of the American headquarters of the Deutsche Bank at 60 Wall Street. They were talking about their needs. Their need to be heard, their need for community, their need for sleep, their need for respect. Tasha Endres, a young German woman with a soft voice, wearing a light blue sweater, led the group through a series of exercises. The course in Nonviolent Communication Training takes more than two hours to complete, but it is “strongly suggested” if you want to join one of the groups in Occupy Wall Street’s Safety Cluster.

“I feel the need to go to another meeting,” one girl announced near the end of the session.

“Great! Thank you for participating!” chirped Ms. Endres, who has been working with the Center for Collaborative Communication—which is affiliated with the Center for Nonviolent Communication—for five years as a trainer/facilitator.

The nonviolence seminar is one of many that Occupy Wall Streeters can now take to deal with conflicts that arise in the camp. It teaches a four-point check-list: the first step is Observation, where we identify what it is that we hear or see that is so upsetting; second, taking stock of our feelings (like “anger” or “sadness”); third, finding the universal Need behind those feelings (needs can be physical, emotional or mental, and there are at least 60 of them listed on a chart being passed around); fourth, using Curiosity to guess the needs of the troublesome party, and finally coming to a resolution through Empathy.

We raise our hand. “What if you don’t have time to take stock of your feelings or needs? What if you feel like you are in danger?” Read More

By The Editors 11/08/11 6:22pm

opinion

Dear Occupy Wall Street, It's Time to Go Home

The Occupy Wall Street movement has succeeded beyond the wildest dreams of its organizers. When the protest began six weeks ago, few in the crowd at Zuccotti Park—and, no doubt, even fewer on Wall Street—could have imagined that an old-fashioned sit-in in a downtown Manhattan park would inspire a global protest.

But that is precisely what has happened. Most reasonably informed people in the U.S. and elsewhere know about the O.W.S. movement and its many iterations in other cities. While the demonstrations have lacked a certain degree of message clarity, and while the movement’s leaders are more than a little imprecise about their proposed solutions, there’s no question that O.W.S. has tapped into deep discontent and anger over the status quo. Read More

By Drew Grant 11/04/11 12:02pm

Occupy Wall Street

Zuccotti Park's not-so-spontaneous violence

'New York Post's Full Frontal Attack On Occupy Wall Street

How does that saying go? First they laugh at you, then they compare you to Nazis, then they tell everyone you are selling drugs and acting like criminals, then they show a dubious video where a crazy person gets beat up by an angry Turkish man for kicking his tent down, and then you win?

So take heart, Occupiers. The New York Post‘s ridiculous coverage of your seedy, criminal underbelly is starting to make you guys look good in comparison. Read More

By Anna Sanders 10/28/11 2:24pm

Occupy Wall Street

Reporters use social media tools to get the whole story in Zuccotti Park. (Photo: Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images)

Zuccotti Press Corps Toggle Between Twitter and Notebooks

Just before dawn on Oct. 14, Salon reporter Justin Elliott was on Twitter and in Zuccotti Park, awaiting the outcome of Mayor Bloomberg’s proposal to clear out the Occupy Wall Street protestors for cleaning.

“On scene at Zuccotti, infusion of new protesters just arrived with signs “NYPD protects and serves the rich” | big cheers #ows,” Mr. Elliott tweeted.

A few days later, Nocturnalist columnist and New York Times staff reporter Sarah Maslin Nir kept followers up to date on the latest from her Zuccotti sleepover.

“Getting cold and tired, but every serious protestor has a tarp to block the wind. And I refuse to huddle for warmth #gonnadie,” Ms. Maslin Nir tweeted just before 1 a.m. on Oct. 17.

With freezing rain forecast for Saturday, staying warm is a major concern for Occupy Wall Street protesters and reporters alike. For many journalists, the movement is noteworthy for regularly drawing them out of the newsroom for long periods of time, demanding an on-the-fly mélange of traditional and social media reporting.  Read More

By Drew Grant 10/26/11 10:53am

Occupy Wall Street

Drumming will be limited to two hours per day on Occupy Wall Street.

Zuccotti Park to Lose All-Night Drum Circle, Gain Portable Toilets

Consider this a win/lose situation: After last night’s meeting with the local community board CB 1, protesters at Occupy Wall St. now must adhere to stricter noise regulations. This comes on the heels of another failed bid by the drumming group Pulse to have the board pass a 4-hour record for allowed jam sessions.

On the other hand, Zuccotti Park may now be getting their own Porta-Potty donations for sanitation purposes, which will probably decrease sales at the McDonald’s on Broadway and Liberty by 200%. Read More

By Aaron Gell 10/21/11 9:46am

The Benefit of the Doubt

Stephen Boyer and Filip Marinovich

Occupy Wall Street and the Poetry of Now-Time

If you really want to understand Occupy Wall Street, you have to talk to the poets.

One night last week, late, after ducking out of a birthday party, we wandered down Broadway like we sometimes do now, looking to extend the evening a bit, see what was doing in the park.

Zuccotti was quiet, but charged with energy as it had been for a month and counting. Many of the sleeping bags were already lumpy and zipped tight. Some were moving gently. The library was closed, covered with blue tarps. But two of the librarians, who were also the poets, were still kicking it. They met three weeks ago and are now best friends, they agreed.

These were Stephen Boyer, 27, a former model and paid dominatrix, and Filip Marinovich, 36, a sometime associate professor of poetry.

Not that any of that really matters anymore. “Hierarchies are bullshit,” Mr. Boyer said. In the last three weeks, he had met celebrities, philosophers, politicians—then curled up under a table to await the next unknowable day. “I’m in the most uncomfortable situation I’ve ever been in in my life, and I have more access to the world than ever.” Read More

By Foster Kamer 10/14/11 1:45pm

THE ECSTASY OF DEFEAT

OWS Brooms

Reading the Riot Actors: The Ground-Level View from Occupy Wall Street’s Morning Raid on Broadway

WE HEARD IT FROM THREE BLOCKS AWAY. The Observer left North Brooklyn sharing a cab with a neighboring journalist who had also been covering the protests shortly after 5:30 AM. By the time the cab pulled onto Broadway, after a quiet ride into Manhattan, traffic was at a standstill. It was around then we heard the noise, seeping in through rolled-up windows: yelling and shouting in a distant, chaotic baritone. The loudest chants of previous protest days paled in comparison.  It started, we thought, fearing the worst, and without much discussion, the fare was paid, we jumped out of the cab, and ran toward the commotion, our adrenaline beginning to surge. Read More