I had a VERY exciting experiance this past weekend! 
I got off the A train, and walked over to Canal and Sixth, past the huge post office. There were a smattering of businesses with Chinese characters, as well as the beginnings of Tribeca. “Hmmm“…I thought “Is Duarte Park gonna be one of those obscure little patches of ground hidden away somewhere?” Then I saw a herd of NYPD arrest vans on the street. “ Hmmm…….where there’s NYPD arrest vans, there’s protestors!” I crossed the street to the park, which was one of those steel and grey concrete “eat lunch and play chess” city parks, surrounded by chain link fences. It looked exactly like a cage. Or like . There were about twenty or thirty people standing around on the peripathy of the park, looking in. For some reason some of them looked familiar. Maybe I’ve been watching too many Occupy videos on Youtube. Some of them were standing on benches. “ What’s going on?” I asked a woman, who was standing on a bench. “ People are getting arrested in there!” she responded. I stood on the bench, but couldn’t see anything. I wandered over to the north side of the park where I could see about a hundred protestors on the sidewalk. Giving lie to the saying “ The revolution will not be televised.”, I saw a lot of people recording the action. I noticed people looking at the action from nearby apartment buildings. I passed sign making areas, and banners scattered around. There were also stacks of granola bars and bottles of water. I heard people in the crowd talking. “ They’re arresting/ beating people who climbed the fence to get in, so the protestors could claim the park for the movement!” I moved in to the sidewalk crowd, and then moved in closer to the fence so I could see more of what was going on inside. ..A couple of protestors ran up and rattled the gate of the fence. I saw a cop inside the cage approach, and moved back. I also saw a couple of protestors in the cage run towards the fence and start climbing up. “The people united will not be defeated!!” I moved in and rattled the gate of the fence, and quickly moved back. “ I heard “ They’re practicing their right to civil disobedience!” Another person moved in and rattled the cage. Suddenly without warning, I felt my arm being pulled, I moved back and I saw a group of NYPD cops move in., out of nowhere“ Clear the sidewalk!” Get off the sidewalk!” To which we responded “ We’re pedestrians! We have the right to be on the sidewalk. It’s a public space!!!” They cleared the sidewalk anyway. “ Off the sidewalk!” We moved off the sidewalk to the clear side of the park. I wandered past a guy being interviewed for some foreign media.“ Mic Check!” someone yelled. “ Mic Check!” “ we may not have been successful in our attempt.” “ We may not have been successful in our attempt. “ “ But we’re going to regroup” “ We’re going to regroup” “ in about an hour. “ in about an hour.” It was hard for me to hear the Mic Checks in the open air……so I moved to where I could see a person’s mouth and lip-read the Mic Checks. Other people were all “ What did they say?” I passed a guy who was giving out stop and frisk buttons. “ Hey you want one?” “ Oh yeah! Definitely….you know the girl who’s picture was all over the media, with the cop pulling her hair? That is my friend!” “ WOW! You definitely need one then! Is she OK?” “ yes she is! Thanks for the button!” I moved on. A guy was passing out strips of yellow “caution” tape with Occupy instead of Caution. He tied one onto my arm making me look like a Che revolutionary. I jokingly punched my arm in the air. “ Occupy to the people!” A few feet away a dance party had broken out on a cloth banner “ get up get down….the revolution is in town!.” I hesitated for a few minutes and started dancing. I left at around 4:00 because I needed to get dinner and because I had a ticket for a show. On my way to the restaurant, I called my mom and told her that I’d been to the OWS event. After I got off the phone, a guy approached me. “ hey are the Occupy protestors still at the park? Which park are they at?”
Gee, I thought the media was implying that the OWS movement was over…..but when people on the street are still talking about it……..
I got off the A train, and walked over to Canal and Sixth, past the huge post office. There were a smattering of businesses with Chinese characters, as well as the beginnings of Tribeca. “Hmmm“…I thought “Is Duarte Park gonna be one of those obscure little patches of ground hidden away somewhere?” Then I saw a herd of NYPD arrest vans on the street. “ Hmmm…….where there’s NYPD arrest vans, there’s protestors!” I crossed the street to the park, which was one of those steel and grey concrete “eat lunch and play chess” city parks, surrounded by chain link fences. It looked exactly like a cage. Or like . There were about twenty or thirty people standing around on the peripathy of the park, looking in. For some reason some of them looked familiar. Maybe I’ve been watching too many Occupy videos on Youtube. Some of them were standing on benches. “ What’s going on?” I asked a woman, who was standing on a bench. “ People are getting arrested in there!” she responded. I stood on the bench, but couldn’t see anything. I wandered over to the north side of the park where I could see about a hundred protestors on the sidewalk. Giving lie to the saying “ The revolution will not be televised.”, I saw a lot of people recording the action. I noticed people looking at the action from nearby apartment buildings. I passed sign making areas, and banners scattered around. There were also stacks of granola bars and bottles of water. I heard people in the crowd talking. “ They’re arresting/ beating people who climbed the fence to get in, so the protestors could claim the park for the movement!” I moved in to the sidewalk crowd, and then moved in closer to the fence so I could see more of what was going on inside. ..A couple of protestors ran up and rattled the gate of the fence. I saw a cop inside the cage approach, and moved back. I also saw a couple of protestors in the cage run towards the fence and start climbing up. “The people united will not be defeated!!” I moved in and rattled the gate of the fence, and quickly moved back. “ I heard “ They’re practicing their right to civil disobedience!” Another person moved in and rattled the cage. Suddenly without warning, I felt my arm being pulled, I moved back and I saw a group of NYPD cops move in., out of nowhere“ Clear the sidewalk!” Get off the sidewalk!” To which we responded “ We’re pedestrians! We have the right to be on the sidewalk. It’s a public space!!!” They cleared the sidewalk anyway. “ Off the sidewalk!” We moved off the sidewalk to the clear side of the park. I wandered past a guy being interviewed for some foreign media.“ Mic Check!” someone yelled. “ Mic Check!” “ we may not have been successful in our attempt.” “ We may not have been successful in our attempt. “ “ But we’re going to regroup” “ We’re going to regroup” “ in about an hour. “ in about an hour.” It was hard for me to hear the Mic Checks in the open air……so I moved to where I could see a person’s mouth and lip-read the Mic Checks. Other people were all “ What did they say?” I passed a guy who was giving out stop and frisk buttons. “ Hey you want one?” “ Oh yeah! Definitely….you know the girl who’s picture was all over the media, with the cop pulling her hair? That is my friend!” “ WOW! You definitely need one then! Is she OK?” “ yes she is! Thanks for the button!” I moved on. A guy was passing out strips of yellow “caution” tape with Occupy instead of Caution. He tied one onto my arm making me look like a Che revolutionary. I jokingly punched my arm in the air. “ Occupy to the people!” A few feet away a dance party had broken out on a cloth banner “ get up get down….the revolution is in town!.” I hesitated for a few minutes and started dancing. I left at around 4:00 because I needed to get dinner and because I had a ticket for a show. On my way to the restaurant, I called my mom and told her that I’d been to the OWS event. After I got off the phone, a guy approached me. “ hey are the Occupy protestors still at the park? Which park are they at?”
Gee, I thought the media was implying that the OWS movement was over…..but when people on the street are still talking about it……..