Watch CBS News

David Crosby, Graham Nash Play Zuccotti Park

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Occupy Wall Street got a blast from the past Tuesday when activist musicians David Crosby and Graham Nash put on a concert for protesters in Zuccotti Park.

The two 60s era protest performers put on a 4-song acoustic set, wrapping it up with "Teach Your Children Well."

WCBS 880's Alex Silverman reports: Jamming In Zuccotti

Podcast

Nash said he wrote the song 45 years ago and believes the words still ring true today.

Photo Gallery: Crosby And Nash At Zuccotti Park

1010 WINS' Al Jones reports: OWS Sing-Along

Podcast

At the end of their set, the duo encouraged the protesters to continue to camp out and occupy the area.

Crosby has seen the encampment at Zuccotti Park before. He stopped by there on Nov. 4.

Singer David Crosby
Singer David Crosby (R) walks among the demonstrators with 'Occupy Wall Street' Nov. 4. (Photo credit: TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images)

The upcoming cold weather is not going to be music to the ears of protesters, however.

Demonstrators have been putting up military-grade tents designed to withstand extreme weather.

Twenty-seven tents are expected to be up within the next 10 days.

The tents cost about $25,000 that's being paid through some of the hundreds of thousands of dollars donated to the group.

LISTEN: WCBS 880's Peter Haskell reports

Podcast

Tents are against the rules at the park, but the company that owns the land has declined to enforce that rule for weeks.

Most of the protesters who have been living in the park have been staying in lightweight, two-person tents.

Maria Failing has been working at the park for three and a half weeks and says there is a key difference between the two types of tents.

"They're weather proof, the other ones were not," she said.

Protesters are also putting wooden pallets on the ground and covering them with foam insulation board.

WCBS 880's Alex Silverman: New Effort To Help Street Businesses Impacted By OWS

Podcast

While all of that is happening inside the park, it is negatively impacting business along the streets surrounding the park.

The scent of egg sandwiches and coffee dripped into Zuccotti Park from Ali Amene's cart on Cedar Street on Tuesday morning.

"I lose a lot because my regular customer doesn't pass... here," he told WCBS 880 reporter Alex Silverman.

With kids in college to support, he's been working 17-hour days since the occupation started.

"Wake up 1:30. I go home 9 o'clock, like a horse," he said.

"The classical 99 percent work hard every day," said Sean Basinski, who runs the non-profit Street Vendor Project.

They've set up a website collecting donations to make up the vendors losses.

LINK: Street Vendor Project

They took in $2,000 on just the first day.

"Convert those donations into cash and bring it over to the vendors and give it to them and then make sure the food gets delievered, which we did for the first time last night," said Basinski.

Amene says the money will help, but really, he just wants things back to normal.

Please share your thoughts below...

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.