Wall Street stays occupied by Christian Papesch

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Oct 15 2011 (IPS) - NEW YORK CITY, October 14, 2011 (IPS) – The scheduled evacuation of Zucotti Park, where the Occupy Wall Street Movement (OWS) has been camped for almost one month now, was cancelled Friday, due to massive resistance by the protesters.

According to OWS, about 3,000 people gathered this morning in and around the park to prevent the police from closing down the occupation. In a letter sent to the movement this morning, New York City’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg cancelled the evacuation that had been requested by the private company that owns the park because “(a)fter weeks of occupation, the conditions at the Park have deteriorated to unsanitary and unsafe levels.”

Occupy Wall Street had published the plans of the City Council and the police on their website and received major expressions of support from around the country, including a petition with more than 300,000 signatures. On Saturday, the protesters, who denounce corporate political influence and social injustice, announced an “international day of solidarity against the greed and corruption of the 1%.”

Demonstrations are supposed to take place in over 951 cities in 82 countries.