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City Hall Park is cleared out and cleaned up
The NYPD and Sanitation cleared out City Hall Park last night in a 4a raid, dispersing the few dozen folks still living and hanging out there and arresting the who refused to leave. The park looks shockingly normal, at least from the other side of the barriers, with all sorts of special ops from DOS swooping in for the job. (They will have to start work on the neighboring buildings, as you can see from J.’s pics below, and do some details, like wash off the graffiti on the green subway bulbs.)
Some protestors tried to reenter the park in the early hours, but were kept out by police in riot gear, neighbors said.
More TK when I learn when the barricades will come down and the park will be open again.
The Journal reported that at least seven people were arrested as cops came in, but most — about 40 or 50 — left peacefully.
Last night would have marked the 30th night of Occupy City Hall, started by city activists to demand that the mayor and council defund the police department by $1 billion in time for the fiscal year deadline on June 31. They did, but many said it was more of a shell game than a legitimate cut back in police spending. That discussion will no doubt continue (or at least, let’s hope).
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Thank God. It’s about time!
This mayor is horrible. The lawlessness and crazy homeless population are appalling!
Thank goodness! I was verbally attacked by these horrible people!! They were not protestors! They were criminals including the mayor!
I hope they reopen the park soon, at least the Park Place side. Juniper Peanut & I miss it!
Having walked by that encampment several times during the protests, I am very happy to see this cleaned up. It made the old Grateful Dead concert parking lots look like modern luxury.
Perhaps in a few weeks the odors and graffiti will also disappear.
They should have locked them up when the damage was done. It’s time to remove the mayor out now. How dare him allow this for 30 days.
Why?
Why?
Why is there no leadership De Blasio? Are there no longer consequences for bad behavior?
He’s praising the lowest amount of prisoners in the jails, has he not gotten the memo:
Get Out Of Jail FREE!
Cards were handed out with bail reform.
This is my city too, I pay taxes, I am law abiding, I want to feel safe, I want to see the city prosper and filled, not desecrated and
deserted. De Blasio RESIGN! NOW!!!!!
WELL SAID! What can we do to take back our area? The hight taxes are not buying us safety and the vagrants in Tribeca are really scary.
I lived through every mayor of New York City from John Lindsey to DeBlasio.
Some great ones:
Koch
Giuliani (before he lost his mind)
Bloomberg
Some not so great:
Beame
Dinkins
But DeBlasio takes the cake as the worst, most divisive do nothing mayor this city has ever seem. Oh and he ran for President? What a joke.
Cannot believe he was elected to a second term. Shows the dearth of quality candidates.
And watch out, he’s using City Hall to set his wife up to run for Brooklyn Borough President. https://nypost.com/2020/02/20/new-de-blasio-low-using-city-hall-for-chirlane-mccray-to-gain-office/
Finally. What took so long?
This was a disgrace and shame upon NYC, and, along with the increase in violent crime, fosters the sense of lawlessness and anarchy.
This occupy site became an encampment for homeless. Finally. I am very worried that homeless are taking over our beloved neighborhood too.
TC – can you please investigate what we as a community can do to solve this problem?
I’ve done a couple posts. The best way is to repeatedly call 311. That puts the individual on the radar of DHS. Then the DHS teams visit regularly. It can take months to convince someone to leave the streets, but that’s what the DHS social workers do — try to build a rapport with someone and eventually convince them to accept shelter. Keep in mind that many of the entrenched homeless also have major mental health issues. So it’s not an easy or simple task.
The occupation had long since shifted from being about any real protest and had just become a giant homeless encampment. I visited a few times, and I will say that there were some commendable folks who were providing food and provisions to the homeless and genuinely seemed well-intentioned. But that’s not the proper way for homeless to get services, nor is it in the public’s safety interest to allow large homeless camps like that to persist, especially when many occupants had clear mental health problems that couldn’t be addressed.
The city did the right thing, even if it did take too long. Hopefully the park can be cleaned and reopened while there is still time for people to enjoy it this summer.
Agree 1000 percent with everything already said.
This was our of control, and went in way too long.
Property defaced and who did they hurt. The average person just trying to live their lives.
As bad as Occupy Wall Street was – this was worse.
Not protesters – this was a shanty town for the homeless.
HOW did this go on as long as it did.
Our mayor has successfully killed all the good work the Rudy (yes nuts now) and Bloomberg did.
It’s vile.
finally, something we can all agree on. deblasio is a disgrace.
Agree with everyone above. And would like to point out another failure of DiBlasio: he claimed to have a mandate to help the homeless. Well, he cleaned out the subways overnight. 450 people slept there. Only 40 have taken up offer of shelters. Many moved into Occupy City Hall. I for sure do not want to live across the street from that yet at the same time, the police came in – chased the homeless out, told them they could come back and get their stuff but then trashed all of it including tents. Dispersing the homeless without any Plan B is just not right. There is literally not a move that DiBlasio has made that hasn’t dominoed into everything else becoming worse. I am scared for our city. I remember the 80’s and it wasn’t pretty. Though on the upside, Laurie Anderson did say that when the wealthy move out, the artists move in. Maybe we’ll regain a vibrant arts community again…
Well I’ve seen it all now. 1:15 this afternoon at the corner of Broadway and Reade…a fairly well-dressed woman half squats at the corner and takes a piss with a half-dozen cops on the opposite corner who watch and do nothing. We’re well on our way to competing with third-world cities for declining quality of life.