Lawyers, city clash over rights of Occupy Wall Street at Zuccotti Park

Posted November 15, 2011 By Alice Brennan

Demonstrators surge up Broadway before dawn after NYPD removes Occupy Wall Street from Zuccotti Park. Alice Brennan/The New York World

As Sanitation workers dragged trash bags full of crumpled cardboard signs and blankets across Broadway, Zuccotti Park – for seven weeks until early this morning a heaving mass of rebellion as home base of the Occupy Wall Street movement – sat silent and deserted this morning, even as a temporary restraining order from State Supreme Court Judge Lucy Billings ordered the Bloomberg administration and park owner Brookfield Properties to let the demonstrators and their possessions back in.

At 11:30 a.m., a judge will hear arguments from attorneys from the National Lawyers Guild seeking an injunction forcing the city and Brookfield to accommodate the protest as a 24-hour encampment.

Attorney Norman Siegel, former head of the New York Civil Liberties Union, camped out all night at Zuccotti Park. He contended that the decision by Mayor Michael Bloomberg to displace the campers from the park was purely political and legally questionable. “On September 17, there were no laws prohibiting campers,” he said. “The question then becomes whether those rules were made up specifically and after the fact.”

In a press conference this morning, Mayor Bloomberg declared the decision to move the protestors and their possessions was not political, but practical. “We decided to do this because of health and safety,” he said, citing incidents of sexual harassment, complaints about noise and a lack of cleanliness at the site.

“That’s just an excuse,” said Siegel. “His accusations are purely speculative, he has no proof that there would be a homicide or anything like that in the park.”

Some lower Manhattan residents, for their part, say they have been relieved by the decision to roust the protesters. Howard Steingard’s apartment looks directly over the park, and this morning he wandered around shaking hands and congratulating the officers on guard. “These people have made my life hell for the last seven weeks,” he said. “We’ve tried every avenue to evict them, and no one would listen to us.”

Protesters have expressed their desire to return to Zuccotti, with their tents and their sleeping bags. Last night, many surged up Broadway after police officers closed off the park and removed tents, sleeping bags and other possessions.

Some demonstrators have moved to Sixth Avenue just north of Canal, while the courts decide what next moves are open to Occupy Wall Street. Siegel says the eviction won’t break the occupiers’ resolve. “These people are angry,” he said. “They want to fight with the law, and the protesters will fight back with the law.”

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<h1>Lawyers, city clash over rights of Occupy Wall Street at Zuccotti Park</h1><div id="attachment_1478" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.thenewyorkworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/2011-11-15-05.14.37.jpg');"  href="http://www.thenewyorkworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/2011-11-15-05.14.37.jpg"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1478" src="http://www.thenewyorkworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/2011-11-15-05.14.37-300x225.jpg" alt="Demonstrators on Broadway" title="Occupy" width="300" height="225" class="size-medium wp-image-1478" srcset="thenewyorkworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/2011-11-15-05.14.37-300x225.jpg 300w, thenewyorkworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/2011-11-15-05.14.37-1024x768.jpg 1024w, thenewyorkworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/2011-11-15-05.14.37-400x300.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-1478" class="wp-caption-text">Demonstrators surge up Broadway before dawn after NYPD removes Occupy Wall Street from Zuccotti Park. Alice Brennan/The New York World</p></div>
<p>As Sanitation workers dragged trash bags full of crumpled cardboard signs and blankets across Broadway, Zuccotti Park – for seven weeks until early this morning a heaving mass of rebellion as home base of the Occupy Wall Street movement – sat silent and deserted this morning, even as a temporary restraining order from State Supreme Court Judge Lucy Billings ordered the Bloomberg administration and park owner Brookfield Properties to let the demonstrators and their possessions back in.</p>
<p>At 11:30 a.m., a judge will hear arguments from attorneys from the National Lawyers Guild seeking an injunction forcing the city and Brookfield to accommodate the protest as a 24-hour encampment.<br />
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<p>Attorney Norman Siegel, former head of the New York Civil Liberties Union, camped out all night at Zuccotti Park. He contended that the decision by Mayor Michael Bloomberg to displace the campers from the park was purely political and legally questionable. “On September 17, there were no laws prohibiting campers,” he said. “The question then becomes whether those rules were made up specifically and after the fact.”</p>
<p>In a press conference this morning, Mayor Bloomberg declared the decision to move the protestors and their possessions was not political, but practical. “We decided to do this because of health and safety,” he said, citing incidents of sexual harassment, complaints about noise and a lack of cleanliness at the site.</p>
<p>“That’s just an excuse,” said Siegel. “His accusations are purely speculative, he has no proof that there would be a homicide or anything like that in the park.”</p>
<p>Some lower Manhattan residents, for their part, say they have been relieved by the decision to roust the protesters. Howard Steingard’s apartment looks directly over the park, and this morning he wandered around shaking hands and congratulating the officers on guard. “These people have made my life hell for the last seven weeks,” he said. “We’ve tried every avenue to evict them, and no one would listen to us.”</p>
<p>Protesters have expressed their desire to return to Zuccotti, with their tents and their sleeping bags. Last night, many surged up Broadway after police officers closed off the park and removed tents, sleeping bags and other possessions.</p>
<p>Some demonstrators have moved to Sixth Avenue just north of Canal, while the courts decide what next moves are open to Occupy Wall Street. Siegel says the eviction won’t break the occupiers’ resolve. “These people are angry,” he said. “They want to fight with the law, and the protesters will fight back with the law.”</p>

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