Photo Courtesy of Wiki Commons

We warned you it was coming—zip lining has officially hit Foley Square for the next two weekends of August. For the NY DOT’s ongoing Summer Streets event, the organization is running a zip line in Foley Square, which is open for public enjoyment. There are other events as well, in celebration of New Yorkers reclaiming their city streets. Numerous streets throughout the City are shut down to cars for the event.

DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan told Metro NY: “The streets are for everyone. It’s a great way for New Yorkers to get out and see and enjoy the city in a different way.”

For the next two weekends only (Aug. 11 & 18), head to Foley Square and get zippin’.

—Alissa Fleck

Photos Courtesy of Alissa Fleck

A number of groups and individuals met today in Foley Square to rally in support of SCOTUS upholding the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Health Care for All New York organized a “Rally to Respond” to the ruling, which was quickly retitled a “Rally to Celebrate,” announced Director Mark Hannay to the crowd. Hannay was among several speakers—doctors, advocates and elected officials—addressing the jubilant crowd of community supporters at the evening rally.

(by Alissa Fleck)

Hannay called the ruling a “milestone step forward in the history of justice,” pointing to the Declaration of Independence’s insistence on the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Hannay said these rights cannot be met without affordable, accessible healthcare for all.

Hannay added SCOTUS making healthcare a right for all means America is finally moving toward other industrialized nations, though he said we are only “9/10ths of the way down the field” and must continue to politically support those who uphold affordable healthcare.

Other speakers laid out the main points of what the ruling would mean for Americans, and New Yorkers in particular, including a breakdown of what could be expected by 2014. State Assemblyman Richard Gottfried explained the ACA would help make health funding available for working families, encourage providers to communicate with one another and ensure senior citizens can afford necessary drugs among numerous other modifications. Preventive care will become more widely accessible, particularly pertinent to many women’s health issues.

Georgetown law student and women’s rights advocate Sandra Fluke took the stand to applaud the efforts of Americans who worked to support the SCOTUS decision as well as to remind crowd members the fight is not over.

“I don’t want to see ideologically-driven legislators work to repeal this decision so they can say they fought Obamacare,” said Fluke. “We want the implementation of the whole Affordable Health Care Act and we want it now.”

All the speakers agreed this decision, while important, is foundational and there are still hurdles from here, including building on decisions made in Washington to make laws in New York “even better” and make health care “a right, not a privilege.”

Speaker Quinn called what happened in Washington an “incredibly American act” and said the days of no options for many sick people and “whether you could get treatment [meaning] how big your paycheck was” are coming to an end.

“All have the right to get well, be well and stay well,” said Quinn. “Let’s make it even better.”

Update, 8:55 p.m.: According to the speaker at General Assembly, approximately 99 workers and councilmen sat down in front of a bridge and were arrested around 6 p.m. today. They are still currently held on a bus in queens. On December 10th, Human Rights Day, they will be marching to the United Nations.

Update, 8:52 p.m.: The speaker at General Assembly is saying that in Occupy D.C. there was a house built on Pennsylvania avenue for Occupy. It is 4 blocks away from the white house. On Sunday at the Brooklyn General Assembly, they’re casting a march to evict Mayor Bloomberg. Tomorrow at Atlantic Terminal, there will be protests at Noon. Also tomorrow, there will be a rally at Foley to protest the NYPD and the racial profiling of Muslims.

Update, 8:41 p.m.: I’m currently in front of Brooklyn World War II memorial. “Mic Check” is happening at General Assembly so everyone can hear. First speaker said they were upset with city officials about what happened earlier in the week Zuccotti Park (or as they call it Liberty Park). Next up is “Occupy The Bronx.” Today 50 protesters gathered on the grand concourse and held up the 4 train, so people could hear their stories. Train goers joined them on their way to Foley Square, so they considered the subway takeover a success. Next speaker up said that the city was mistaken in thinking that the movement needed a park to thrive because they’re organized and won’t be stopped.

Update, 8:28 p.m.: Solid mass of people on the Brooklyn bridge with no breaks. They were shouting that they’re 32,000 strong. Cadman Plaza Park is where I am now. General assembly is on. There is a crowd of people greeting marchers from across the street. Only a few hundred, most people are leaving.

Update, 8:16 p.m.: Protesters are now chanting open the iron gate at police manning barricades barring them from entrance into Brooklyn. Cop
tells everyone to be careful and walk to the park next to the bridge for a staging area. He tells protesters that they’re [the police] part of the 99% and people shout back, “nice cop!”

Update, 8:10 p.m.: The march has slowed to a standstill as NYPD  are holding up the end of the bike line. Hundreds chant, “Banks got bailed out, we got sold out.”

Update, 8:00 p.m.: Just made it to the Brooklyn side of the bridge.

Update, 7:45 p.m.: Among the peaceful protesters is Jason slack, 40, a British carpenter living in Jersey City. “What’s going on here is amazing, I wouldn’t have missed this for the world. It’s a great start and in the spring, great things are to come!” He exclaims.

Update, 7:35 p.m.: Crowds congregate on the bridge calling for drivers to stop their cars. Some drivers do so, but many more honk their horns solidarity. Cops are suspiciously absent from the bridge.

Update, 7:25 p.m.: On the Brooklyn Bridge, people in unitedny.org t-shirts are holding hands in a barrier to protect protesters against potential violence from cops.

Update, 7:15 p.m.: I’m by the Brooklyn Bridge at Lafayette Street. There are caution signs that are lit up saying that pedestrians on the roadway will be arrested. Uniformed NYPD are restricting access on the surrounding streets, while officers standing in pickup trucks shout from megaphones to remind them to stay on walkways. Protesters are herded onto sidewalks and the walkway of the bridge.

Update, 6:45-7:10 p.m.: I’ve been gridlocked at Read and Lafayette streets. There’s no movement at all around me.

Update, 6:45 p.m.: Word has carried down the line that the first protesters have reached Brooklyn Bridge, invigorating the crowd. Spotlights shine on 2 Lafayette and court houses. People are chanting, “we are the 99% and we occupy together.”

Update, 6:30 p.m.: Protesters march to the cadence of “March March March” as they’re flanked by police in riot gear. Reverend Powell shouts
the people’s right to peaceful protest.

Update, 6:15 p.m.: “Whose streets? Our streets!” Thousands are now present in Foley Square. They shout that nonviolent protests are creativity. Now protesters are urged to take to the streets and march on the Brooklyn Bridge. The National Lawyer’s Union announced their Pro-Bono aid, while many people don goggles to protect against pepper spray and write the NLU’s telephone number on their arms.

Update, 5:45 p.m.: The New School announces that they’re now occupied. The president of the university welcomes all protestors to go there. Members of the UAW and the teamsters protest as a mass on the corner of Lafayette and Worth Streets in front of Federal Plaza.

Update, 5:15 p.m.: Speakers begin to take the stage to tell their story, urging protesters to exile Chase bank out of Manhattan because of unfair lending practices. Meanwhile congestion piles up as hundreds more join the protesters in the square.

Update, 5:00 p.m.: There’s well over 1,00 people here in Foley Square. Entertainers have started playing and “Occupy Wall Street, All Day, All Week” chant resounds from speakers set up throughout the square. Ellen and Angela, 48, are teachers protesting on behalf of public education. They accuse United Federation of Teachers of not doing anything to protect its members or even attempting to stop the privatization of the educational system in America. “They’re a lot of talk but they don’t have any, shall we say, guts.” Angela explains. Her colleague, Ellen, adds that “with tonight’s protests we hope to legitimize this and make it a real movement that can influence those elected to office, end the current agenda, and get corporatism out of politics.”

Update, 4:40 p.m.: As a marching band parades around Foley Square, David Suker, a bronx born 2 year army veteran, hands out copies of the ‘Occupy Wall Street Journal’ to people walking by. During the march tonight he hopes that “we shut the city down, shut the Brooklyn bridge down, and a thousand of us get arrested so we can show our determination to our cause.” Elsewhere members of occupyny.org hand out leaflets. Teachers from the United Federation teachers hand out posters, hats, ponchos and glow sticks to protestors to help them through the damp night. A man, who only wishes to be identified as Walter, has taught for the board of education for 30 years says, “It’s a good thing, a great thing. We’re speaking of a situation that encompasses everyone.”

Update, 4:25 p.m.: Police have started to set up barricades around Foley Square and the blocks surrounding Chambers Street to City Hall. Entrances to places such as the Tweed Court House are staffed by cops in riot gear behind sawhorses and metal fences. Foley Square itself is packed with hundreds of protestors waving signs admist the sounds of beating drums.

Update, 3:45 p.m.: Police start escorting protesters out of Zuccotti park who are carrying large bags and backpacks. Protesters are undeterred. A worker for the pprivate park, who chose to remain anonymous, said that security and the police are there to make sure that there isn’t another encampment. Police officers themselves have refused to comment. ‘Uncle Bob’ Griffen, 53, who used to run the fregan kitchen ‘Chow Hounds’ in the park says, “They’re trying to control what we’re doing and where we can go, but they can’t deny our power to affect the system through non violent protest.”

First Post, 3:30 p.m.: Preparing for protests the NYPD has massed en force. They’ve cordoned off the streets surrounding the New York Stock Exchange. Entrances to New Street and exchange place are blocked off by cops decked out in riot gear. Few people are allowed to walk through with the police demanding to see iDs and their destinations. There are roughly 200 people in Zucotti park now. Protesters come from all walks of life. Joanne Fioriito, 56, is a navy veteran on her third visit here. Coming from Tuckhannock, PA, she says that “We’re all here for different reasons. People’s greed is affecting everyone in some way. At home we have to deal with hydrofraking which is poisoning are water for money.”

According to Alix Koloff, who was in the settlement’s kitchen at the time, the police arrived around 1 a.m. near the Broadway and Liberty Street entrance, turning on bright lights and telling protesters to gather their belongings and vacate. “Gradually, they were on all sides of the park with their shields,” she said.

Koloff and many others, she noted, stayed put until about 3:30 or 4 a.m., when she said police began dragging individuals out of the park. She added that she left the kitchen right before a group of people were pepper-sprayed.

Roughly a block away at about 2 a.m. Anthony Robledo, who has been part of the occupation for a month, was barred from re-entering the park by police. He watched as trucks moved toward the area. Several witnesses reported that the trucks were used to cart off the protesters’ tents and belongings.

While many others relocated to nearby Foley Square, Robledo stayed behind and waited until he was let into Zuccotti Park at around 7 a.m. According to statements from police officials, roughly 142 people were arrested inside the park, including Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez, and an additional 50 or 60 individuals were arrested on nearby streets. There have also been widespread reports of the media being barred from covering the events.

At a press conference later that morning, Bloomberg noted that the park should be accessible to the full public but that OWS’ use of tents and temporary structures had made this impossible. For weeks, local politicians had been fielding complaints from residents regarding quality-of-life issues such as urination and defecation and excessive noise.

“This morning, the city took targeted action to restore public safety and security to the Lower Manhattan neighborhood. I have been assured that the protesters will be allowed to return to Zuccotti Park—for 24 hours a day—where they can continue to exercise their First Amendment rights,” said Council Member Margaret Chin.

“I do not believe the ban on tents and other sleeping material impedes on these rights,” she said. “With the park rules in place, residents and area workers can once again make use of this public space.”

In a joint statement, Rep. Jerrold Nadler and State Sen. Daniel Squadron noted: “We agree that Zuccotti Park must be open and accessible to everyone—OWS, the public, law enforcement and first responders—and that it is critical to protect the health and safety of protesters and the community. The city’s actions to shut down OWS last night raise a number of serious civil liberties questions that must be answered.

“Moving forward, how will the city respect the protesters’ rights to speech and assembly? Why was press access limited and why were some reporters’ credentials confiscated? How will reported incidents of excessive force used by the police be addressed?”

Community Board 1 Chairperson Julie Menin added, “CB1 has been clear that we oppose the use of force in this situation and oppose a forcible clearing of the park. We believe that there is a solution that allows the protection of OWS’ First Amendment rights and also respects the quality of life for residents and small businesses.

“As we have consistently said,” she asserted, “these two are not mutually exclusive and we urge the city to meet with OWS and work toward a reasonable solution.”

“I think, under this administration, the NYPD likes to keep the media as far from anything they do as they can,” Leonard Levitt, author of the book NYPD Confidential, observed.

OWS was dealt another setback that day when New York City Justice Michael D. Stallman ruled that the property owner Brookfield Properties had the right to uphold its rule prohibiting the use of “tents, structures, generators and other installations” in the park. Some protesters, however, remain undeterred.

“These people,” said Robledo, pointing to the officers  in Zuccotti Park on Tuesday afternoon, “are doing their job, and we have to do ours. We are going to reoccupy.”

Photo credits: Zuccotti Park early Tuesday morning after it was cleared. Photo by Dan Nguyen