Forum Post: Need advice organizing mass trip to Occupy Wall Street
Posted 13 years ago on Oct. 7, 2011, 11:55 p.m. EST by electricman17
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Hi all. I'm a student at Stony brook University. Basically I have this idea of going down to the protest one weekend to show my support, and I want to take along as many of my fellow students as possible. I've never done anything like this before and I need advice on how to organize and actually do this. What is the best way to spread the message? How do I go about transporting (possibly hundreds) of people at once and keeping everyone organised? I don't know if the LIRR can handle that many people, and I don't think the university will want to help (This is assuming I get that far). What date and time should I realistically be planning for, and how long should we be down there? I'm also concerned about the safety of me and my peers. Do you think I'd be able to pull this off? Should I even try?
Hi electricman17,
I am a graduate student at Stony Brook. I've been down to Liberty Plaza a few times to support the occupation, but that's easier for me since I live in the city and commute to SBU. Your plans will not be that hard to put into action. Next weekend should be a great time to visit the occupation. You should spend this week trying to get as many fellow students on board as possible. Probably the best way to do that is to make a facebook page for SBU students supporting the occupation. You may also want to hand out flyers on campus. I'd suggest linking up with some of the social action/social justice/etc. groups on campus. They can help you get the word out. On the day you actually want to go, your best bet is to take the LIRR. They will have enough room for you all! (Hopefully.) Renting buses would be very expensive. It's better just to ask each student to buy a LIRR ticket...it's not that expensive. You can take the LIRR straight to Penn Station, then take any number of subways down to Liberty Plaza (corner of Liberty and Broadway). I wouldn't worry too much about safety. Hundreds of occupants have been sleeping in the park for many weeks now without any serious disturbances. Those protestors who have been arrested have (largely) been engaged in acts of civil disobedience such as occupying streets, bridges, etc. closed off by city police. You can pick and choose your battles and thus stay as close or as far away from the police as you'd like. If you just hang out in the park you'll have nothing to worry about! They are planning big demonstrations for next Saturday Oct 15th, so I'd plan on bringing your group down that morning and spending the whole day. If anyone wants to sleep over just bring a sleeping bag and warm clothes.
I'll be splitting this week between campus and NYC. Feel free to email me if you'd like to get in touch: rosenthal.gregory@gmail.com
Cheers, Gregory