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Day Of Rage: Protesters Clog Wall Street Looking To Affect Change

NEW YORK (WCBS 880) - If the traffic trouble from the United Nations General Assembly wasn't enough for you, add a protest on Wall Street.

Photos: Protesters Clog Wall Street

WCBS 880's Alex Silverman On The Story

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Their ultimate goal is to change the country's financial system.

But for today, one female protester said the goal was, "Clogging up the streets. We're confusing people. People are going to work late."

Robert Siegel was wearing a pressed gray suit and yellow tie. You'd never know that since Saturday, he's been sleeping in a park.

"Somehow I managed to keep the suit looking good. I have extra shirts," he said.

He says eight years as a consultant for an investment bank were enough to turn him into one of the protestors.

"I just shuffled other people's money around and took a cut. Nothing was being contributed. A lot was just being taken out," he told WCBS 880 reporter Alex Silverman. "[I] watched the silliness compound on itself. At some point, I wanted a lifestyle that didn't consist of going up to computers to deal with angry people."

Siegel is one of the few hundred marching up and down either side of Wall Street.

As the workday started some were frustrated, but not all.

"Just trying to get to work. But, I'll do the best I can and God bless America," said one man.

Four men and one woman were taken into custody Monday morning under the provisions that makes it unlawful for two or more individuals to wear masks, and a fifth for jumping a police barrier and resisting arrest, according to the NYPD. That makes a total of seven arrests since the protests began on Saturday, with two of three other masked individuals arrested Saturday as they attempted to gain entry to a building that housed Bank of America.

Wall Street sidewalks have been opened  to all pedestrian traffic. Anyone who stops and disrupts pedestrian traffic is subject to arrest, according to police.  So far, six of the seven arrested have been out-of-state residents.

The protesters want to cause a paradigm shift in the world's financial system, but so far, for the most part, they've just succeeded in making a scene.

One woman who works in the area was forced to use an alternate entrance to her office building and had to show her ID just to get through the door.

What do you think about the American and world financial systems? Do they need to change? If so, how? Sound off in the comments section below!

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