ZUCCOTTI PARK
John S. e-mailed me this morning that he was going to be at the Occupy Wall Street site this afternoon and said, I should text him, if I was in the area. Well, I couldn't ask for a better invitation. And, it was something I've been wanting to do for a while now.
Finding the place was the first order of the day. For all the complaints about noise and sanitary conditions from downtown residents you would expect Zucotti Park to be within shouting distance of Batteery Park City. But, it isn't; it's smack dab in the middle of the business district, squeezed into a stand of honey locust saplings separating Brooks Brothers, Trinity Church and the old Merrill Lynch Building. Before Occupy Wall Street took it over it was more familiar as one the least hospitable places to eat lunch in lower Manhattan.
With the advent of colder temperatures, the site is now cheek by jowl with tents of every size and description. Imagine M*A*S*H but even denser and more compact. Makeshift trails wide enough for one person to squeeze past another as they navigate the information tables, souvenir vendors and what look like poster sessions at a scientific conference, compose the public face of Occupy Wall Street. Beyond that it's difficult to ignore the fact that at any moment a stray misstep could find one falling headfirst into someone's living room.
I found John on the edge of an impromptu brainstorming session, one of many that seem to criss-cross the campus on a moment's notice. This was entitled, "Answering the Negativity of the Media" according to the white board held by one of the participants. John had already mastered the home-grown system of hand signals that indicated agreement with what was being said as well at to whether you wished to be recognized. There was even a signal to indicate whether it was a new subject or in answer to something tha had already been said.
This was all handled with some alacrity by what looked like a combination of facillitators and film makers. Just about everything at Zuccotti Park is being photographed, recorded or filmed at any given moment.
John eventually wriggled his fingers in the accepted language and was called upon. I have no doubt we will wind up on Youtube eventually.
Finding the place was the first order of the day. For all the complaints about noise and sanitary conditions from downtown residents you would expect Zucotti Park to be within shouting distance of Batteery Park City. But, it isn't; it's smack dab in the middle of the business district, squeezed into a stand of honey locust saplings separating Brooks Brothers, Trinity Church and the old Merrill Lynch Building. Before Occupy Wall Street took it over it was more familiar as one the least hospitable places to eat lunch in lower Manhattan.
With the advent of colder temperatures, the site is now cheek by jowl with tents of every size and description. Imagine M*A*S*H but even denser and more compact. Makeshift trails wide enough for one person to squeeze past another as they navigate the information tables, souvenir vendors and what look like poster sessions at a scientific conference, compose the public face of Occupy Wall Street. Beyond that it's difficult to ignore the fact that at any moment a stray misstep could find one falling headfirst into someone's living room.
I found John on the edge of an impromptu brainstorming session, one of many that seem to criss-cross the campus on a moment's notice. This was entitled, "Answering the Negativity of the Media" according to the white board held by one of the participants. John had already mastered the home-grown system of hand signals that indicated agreement with what was being said as well at to whether you wished to be recognized. There was even a signal to indicate whether it was a new subject or in answer to something tha had already been said.
This was all handled with some alacrity by what looked like a combination of facillitators and film makers. Just about everything at Zuccotti Park is being photographed, recorded or filmed at any given moment.
John eventually wriggled his fingers in the accepted language and was called upon. I have no doubt we will wind up on Youtube eventually.