The Latest From Zuccotti Park's OWS Protests

So how are the protesters dealing with the lack of generators after the NYPD and FDNY confiscated them as a fire hazard? They've gone and become their own generators - using bikes to power generators:


Local businesses continue suffering from the ongoing security measures put in place after OWS protesters took over Zuccotti Park. One business claims to have laid off a bunch of part time workers because business is down significantly as a result of the security barriers limiting the traffic to his establishment.

Marc Epstein, owner of the Milk Street Cafe at 40 Wall Street, just let 21 employees go.

The reason? The barricades police have set up throughout Wall Street as a consequence of the ongoing demonstration.

In June, he opened the New York branch of the Boston shop, which has a 30 year history. Epstein says he leased the space on Wall Street because it was next to a pedestrian plaza – and his was the only restaurant along that plaza.

“The opening was perfect,” Epstein told CBSNewYork.com. “The food was delicious, the customers were happy, and the line was out the door.”

Customers kept coming back, Epstein said.

“Everything was going in the right direction. Sales continued to grow. We started to build our catering business. Costs were going down. I felt that by October or November we would break even.”

Then the Occupy Wall Street movement launched.

“I came one Monday morning and I found the exit by the 2 or 3 subway station closed. I saw all these barriers – barricades – all up and down my street,” Epstein said. “At first I thought nothing of it, but after a week… it’s been six or seven weeks now.”

The security barriers are meant to thwart protesters from marching into the Wall Street hub area around the NYSE and Federal Hall, but they have also served to thwart tourists and local businesses from carrying out regular business. These measures are in addition to the barriers installed in the wake of 9/11 to protect the stock exchange from potential attack by car/truck bombs.

Note too that the building where the business is located is owned by none other than Donald Trump, so expect Trump to squawk about the situation.

Local politicians continue weighing in over the protests, and Shelly Silver, the Assembly Speaker, has come out against the protests after spending time on the fence. He's been joined by other Democrats, including Rep. Jerrold Nadler, who represent the area of Lower Manhattan. They're demanding the city crack down against the nuisances, particularly those protesters who are defecating and urinating on local streets and the incessant noise coming from the drummer groups along the west side of the park.

While expressing sympathy for Occupy Wall Street protesters and their right to protest, the elected officials wrote to Bloomberg insisting he solve growing concerns.

“Some of the protesters, and others who have opportunistically joined the crowd for unrelated reasons, have created serious qualify-of-life concerns for residents of the immediate area,” the letter states.

The group complained about public urination, nonstop drumming - and erected barricades that make it difficult for local residents to get around.

“It is important that these quality-of-life concerns are addressed in an effective and thoughtful manner by the city so that they do not keep recurring,” the letter states.

Silver, at the Capitol in Albany, told reporters that exercising one’s First Amendment rights “should not include defecating or urinating on sidewalks.

“What we want is a recognition that other people have a constitutional right to enjoy their home, that businesses have a right to do business unimpeded by people who are exercising their First Amendment rights,” he said.

Meanwhile Mayor Mike Bloomberg and former Mayor Ed Koch sparred over the protesters and whether they were focused on the right target. While Bloomberg suggested that the real beef was with Congress and Washington, Koch pointed out the problem with someone stealing a bike going to jail while someone who stole millions got a fine.

Both are serious problems, but the issue of fines is one that Congress has to address - that's not merely something that Wall Street can rectify on its own. It means giving teeth to the penalty structure in place for Wall Street and financial malfeasance.

At the same time, a new poll suggests that the makeup of those protesting isn't quite what people may think.

The poll by Fordham's Center for Electoral Politics and Democracy released last week found that the Occupy Wall Street movement is 68% white, 61% male and 28% unemployed. But most of the protestors are college graduates and 22% hold advanced degrees.

It also found that only 25% of the protestors identify with the Democratic Party, while 21% want Rep Ron Paul (R-Texas) to become the Republican Party nominee for president.

The project by Costas Panagopoulos, professor of political science at Fordham and students, surveyed 301 protestors camped out at Zuccotti Park from Oct. 11 to Oct. 14, with a response rate of 78%. Only one other such survey of Occupy Wall Street exists and it polled fewer protestors, Panagopoulos said.

“The group is very liberal and part of the Democratic base,” Panagopoulos said. “But a surprising number don’t plan to vote."

The OWS rabble rousers seem to detest the Tea Party movement, with 75% giving it two thumbs down.

But, like their conservative counterparts, the Zuccotti Park denizens don’t trust Washington to “do what is right” and 97% disapprove of how Congress is handling its job.

More protestors identify with the Socialist Party than the Republican Party, and more than a third identify with no party at all, the survey found.

A surprising percentage support Ron Paul, which suggests quite a significant libertarian streak among protesters, which isn't nearly what Panagopoulos suggests. It isn't surprising that there's a significant liberal presence, but there's a confluence of anti-government sentiment among the protesters that has all kinds of shades - from socialist to libertarian.

The Daily News reported that a group claiming to be affiliated with the OWS protesters that circulated a supposed manifesto codifying various demands of the protesters is a bunch of bunk.

Misplaced NYC Infrastructure Priorities

Which is more important? Renaming the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel and 59th Street Bridge to honor former Governor Hugh Carey and Mayor Ed Koch respectively, or finding funding to improve the Brooklyn Queens Expressway trench between Atlantic Avenue and the Battery Tunnel?

Well, it looks like the renaming is likely, while the BQE enhancement lacks the funding (starting at $10 million). The state legislature and City Council will have to vote to approve the naming changes, and if history is any guide, the cost to switch signs for each crossing will run around $4 million each (that's what the cost to rename the Triborough Bridge as the RFK Memorial Bridge).

The city and state are hoping to get private donations to cover the cost. Really?

How about skipping the naming rights and get the donations to improve the community life around the trench - new trees, screening, and pocket parks would help close the gap created when the highway was built below grade. It wouldn't be a perfect fix, but it would help lessen the effects of the highway on Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, and Columbia Street Waterfront.

This once again exposes the misplaced priorities. Focus on improving the actual infrastructure than paying for name changes that people end up ignoring. Construction of the highway destroyed neighborhood life and the EDC efforts to reduce noise, congestion, and pollution effects on the neighborhood would help improve the situation.

It is far more worthwhile than renaming bridges and tunnels.

New York Trio of D'Amato, Koch and McCall Calls Paladino Out For His Racism

Here's the open letter written and signed by none other than former US Senator Al D'Amato (R), former NYC Mayor Ed Koch (D), and former state comptroller and gubernatorial candidate H Carl McCall, attesting to Carl Paladino's inadequacy and competency to be governor of New York:

KochMcCallDAmatoOnPaladino

The three make several very important points. Paladino has engaged in divisive behavior, including distributing racist and bigoted emails, which are an affront to a significant portion of the state's population.

Paladino claims to be an outsider, and yet has spent tons of his money to lobby for state business and has profited from those lobbying efforts to the tune of millions of dollars. Far from being an outsider, he's used and abused the very system he complains about.

His response to the letter is to brand D'Amato, Koch, and McCall as little more than lackeys to Cuomo.

The way I see it, those three wouldn't have joined together unless they saw the state in such perilous shape and that it needed someone who would take the situation seriously without adding to an already rancorous and toxic environment in Albany. Paladino clearly needs to cast the three as lackeys to Cuomo, but that just doesn't wash - particularly with D'Amato.

UPDATE:
Gothamist has a list of Paladino's latest utterances and classic rants, but they missed the one where Paladino called Speaker Silver Hitler.

Note too that Paladino claims to oppose abortion, even in cases of rape and incest. That's a position that runs counter to most New Yorkers, who prefer a right to abortion, including in such instances. Andrew Cuomo's father, Mario, had long opposed abortion on religious grounds, until shifting his views to accepting a woman's right to choose.

Pleading Her Case?

Caroline Kennedy sure is doing a whole lot of pleading in her listening tour across much of New York State to claim that she should be appointed by Democrat Governor David Paterson to replace Sen. Hillary Clinton should she be confirmed to be President-Elect Barack Obama's Secretary of State.

What exactly has she done that makes her suitable for the position? Her claims to fame?

That would be her last name, which apparently is more than enough for many.

She's claiming that she's raised a family, which is a sign of her ability.

Really? How come Democrats repeatedly denigrated and castigated Alaska Governor Sarah Palin for not only being a small town mayor and the governor of the state of Alaska, but for raising a family of five?

Can you say hypocritical double standards? I know you can.

Kennedy has not done anything that should warrant being chosen Senator from New York, not when there are other suitable politicians who have put in their dues and done service for the citizens of the state. Why should they be passed over for Kennedy, unless it's that last name that will trump all? Kennedy has lined up a bunch of high profile people to help back her efforts, including other members of the Kennedy clan.

Meanwhile, the Daily News is starting to ask some serious questions about key issues of the day, including where she stands on the auto bailout and the financial crisis.

She's nice, smart and has a golden political pedigree, but where does Caroline Kennedy stand on the auto bailout, immigration, Wall Street regulation and other sticky issues?

The answer, many New Yorkers are quickly realizing, is "No one knows." And there's no guarantee they will before Gov. Paterson bequeaths Hillary Clinton's Senate seat upon her, as he seems inclined to do.

"You will find out where she stands when she runs in 2010," said former Mayor Ed Koch, a supporter. "She's a liberal with sanity, which is what I look for in any candidate."

All that's really known is that Kennedy is a fierce advocate for public education, having raised millions for city public schools.

She is also solidly pro-choice, according to Kelli Conlin of NARAL Pro-Choice New York, an organization Kennedy has supported for years.

Beyond that, her views are cloaked in the same privacy as her personal life.

Why should New Yorkers have to wait until 2010 to know where their Senator stands on key issues? Why should any of this be a secret? Shouldn't New Yorkers have the right to know who they have in the Senate representing their interests? Koch's words are extremely condescending and highly suggestive that the political masters know better than the public about what's good for them.

In fact, it would be nice if the Daily News or the New York Times actually had their reporters ask these questions of Kennedy, rather than simply chasing her around the state and offering up free face time without actually informing people of what this woman stands for. Right now, no one knows, and yet she's well on her way to convincing Gov. Paterson that she should be replacing Hillary.

Meanwhile, many New Yorkers seem to prefer Andrew Cuomo to Kennedy. I don't think anyone quite realizes what that would mean for the media covering New York politics. It would be a rugby scrum watching Cuomo and Sen. Chuck Schumer fighting for face time before the cameras. Then again, that might be just the thing to get the local media out of the doldrums and improve the bottom line for sagging media companies.

The Mask Slips on Obama's Intentions Regarding Israel

Leave it to Jesse Jackson to tip Sen. Barack Obama's hand on how he intends to deal with Israel. Let's just say that Obama isn't exactly going to bend over backwards to protect Israel. As Jackson says:

PREPARE for a new America: That’s the message that the Rev. Jesse Jackson conveyed to participants in the first World Policy Forum, held at this French lakeside resort last week.

He promised “fundamental changes” in US foreign policy - saying America must “heal wounds” it has caused to other nations, revive its alliances and apologize for the “arrogance of the Bush administration.”

The most important change would occur in the Middle East, where “decades of putting Israel’s interests first” would end.

Jackson believes that, although “Zionists who have controlled American policy for decades” remain strong, they’ll lose a great deal of their clout when Barack Obama enters the White House.

“Obama is about change,” Jackson told me in a wide-ranging conversation. “And the change that Obama promises is not limited to what we do in America itself. It is a change of the way America looks at the world and its place in it.”

If pro-Israel supporters lose clout under an Obama Administration, how exactly does that improve Israel's security or close ties with the US? It doesn't. Israel is an ally in the region precisely because it is a democracy and isn't a thugocracy or dictatorship that is opposed to the West on religious and ideological grounds.

Of course, you've got folks like Democrat Rep. Steve Rothman trotting out Ed Koch and an Israeli Ambassador to make the case that Obama is better for Israel than McCain, but they've got pretty thin gruel when the evidence is pretty strong that Obama will follow in the footsteps of former President Carter and sell out Israel at the first opportunity. Obama already counts on Carter's foreign policy team for guidance, and Carter himself has repeatedly met with Hamas and would like Israel to make still more concessions and giveaways before even making it to the negotiating table to carve up Israel for the Islamists and terrorists who would love to have Israel dismembered and thrown on the dustbin of history. All that came even as Hamas was busy pulling the rug out from under Carter.

Carter is no friend of Israel and he repeatedly makes anti-Semitics statements and sickening moral equivalence between a nation defending itself from terrorists who fire indiscriminately at Israeli civilians and those terrorists engaging in such violence.

Consider too that Obama counts on former national security advisors Zbigniew Brzezinski. He helped fashion the disastrous policy towards Iran and the refusal to take action directly against the Iranian mullahs following the 1979 embassy takeover, giving rise to a festering terrorist-sponsoring Iranian regime that sees the US as weak and incapable of defending its interests in the region.

Obama is no friend to Israel, and has already made numerous gaffes on his position regarding Israel, the status of Jerusalem, and will say different things about Israel depending on the crowd he talks to.

Keep that in mind as you hear Obama's supporters try and claim that Obama is going to support Israel.