WCBS 880 Tri-State Top 11 Of 2011: No. 7 - Occupy Wall Street
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) - At WCBS Newsradio 880, we continue our countdown of the top 11 Tri-State Area news stories of 2011 with one that "occupied" so much of our time and one neighborhood park in Lower Manhattan.
WCBS 880's Wayne Cabot On The Story
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"Sorry for the inconvenience, but we are trying to change the world," chanted one protester.
It took a long time for the Occupy Wall Street story to occupy the headlines.
Reporters, including our own Monica Miller did cover that first protest on September 17, yet New York protests happen all the time.
Who knew it would go global, and so quickly?
Within weeks, Zuccotti Park became a mass of tents and tarps and drums and noise.
"Several hundred have made this their temporary residence," reported Marla Diamond of the park that became a tourist destination.
People came to see an undefined movement that railed at banks and high-flying traders, seen as victimizing the shrinking middle class, the unemployed, the foreclosed, the 99 percent.
It captured the imagination of young, old, war veterans, folk heroes like Pete Seeger, David Crosby, and Graham Nash. Others were wary or worse.
Live on WCBS 880, Staten Island U.S. Rep. Michael Grimm called them "degenerates and miscreants, drug addicts, anarchists, and communists."
Just shy of two months later, on November 15 the long, strange camping trip was over.
"All property, including tents and personal belongings must be removed," announced a member of the NYPD.
"Police moved in, protesters dispersed or got arrested, and power washers took over," reported WCBS 880's Sean Adams.
"Make no mistake. The final decision to act was mine, and mine alone," said Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
It was a decision backed up by the court.
"The judge has just issued his ruling. Protesters cannot go back into the park to camp out," reported WCBS 880's Irene Cornell.
Today, the bronze bull on Wall Street remains in a cage of police barricades.
In the winter wind, you might find twenty protesters still in Zuccotti Park.
Is the movement dormant or dead? That's a story for 2012.
RELATED:
WCBS 880 Tri-State Top 11 Of 2011: No. 11 – Gov. Chris Christie
WCBS 880 Tri-State Top 11 Of 2011: No. 10 – Tour Bus Crashes
WCBS 880 Tri-State Top 11 Of 2011: No. 9 – Gay Marriage
WCBS 880 Tri-State Top 11 Of 2011: No. 8 – Leiby Kletzky
WCBS 880 will continue the countdown with number 6 at 4:50 p.m. Stay tuned!
What do you have to say about the Occupy Wall Street movement? Sound off in the comments section below!
