As you may have noticed, every significant area below 14th Street was occupied at some point yesterday. As the reoccupation of Zuccotti park mellowed out, the movement headed up Broadway. The cops followed the crowd throughout the entire march, but after the previous never-ending stream of random arrests, they became more strategic. As the movement gained momentum, they became so outnumbered that they had no choice but to ease up on the indiscriminate zip-cuffing and took on more of an observational role.
After lurking at the back of Union Square, the occupiers headed to Fifth Avenue where they somehow installed anti-corporate signs in the windows above TD Bank. Not sure how they pulled that one off. People climbed on top of just about everything in sight and flooded the streets, making it really hard for all the old ladies who live on Fifth Avenue to cross.
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A few knocked over barricades and traffic jams later, the occupiers regrouped and headed back down Broadway to Foley Square. By this time there were thousands of protesters, including a bunch of union geezers who, in collaboration with the police, led the protesters into the day’s crescendo—the Brooklyn Bridge march. The union guys locked arms and made a people barricade in front of the car side of the bridge, totally cockblocking the hardcore protesters who wanted to occupy the road.
By the time the crowd made it to the other side of the bridge the atmosphere was much more tame. A small group of protesters beat drums and waved flags in front of a monument at the foot of the bridge, and a general assembly was held behind a nearby building. It was a pretty quiet end to a very loud day.
More on Occupy Wall Street:
Occupy Wall Street Is Getting Ugly
