Forum Post: OWS RESEARCH PROJECT - Get Zuccotti Park designated a NYC SHELTER the subzero weather is just around the corner - best scenarios - add to this list:
Posted 12 years ago on Oct. 25, 2011, 4:04 a.m. EST by AtomicZ
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Who runs the city shelter system in NYC ? - get to know the opposition - research how a shelter is created in Manhattan? If you make the Zuccotti Park the best damn NYC Shelter in Manhattan's history ! & get legal help to accomplish this... they can't haul everyone out of Zuccotti Park and into lots of different designated "NYC SHELTERS" remember "divide and concur" They do! When the temperature drops below freezing in Manhattan they will remove you ALL which is mandatory by law to save the helpless freezing in the streets... They will move all of you into different shelters! Once they have you out of the park they will close it for renovations - they already have plans ticking in the wings...
North Face - research cold weather tents - heating systems that stay within NYC law. Laundry - you must have clean clothes in the winter believe me I know I have slept on the streets in Manhattan in the winter. It can be an adventure [ if you have clean dry clothing ] or a nightmare if the clothing is dirty which traps in moisture / sweat - which drains off all of your body heat. You will catch pneumonia - Get a real doctor to check on everyone's health all the time - hell get a hospital emergency room designated to receive injuries [ slip on the ice and crack a rib ] someone will need this, believe me. Outshine Manhattan and remember Washington At Valley Forge !!! peace AtomicZ...
Eventually this movement may have to move indoors such as in the doors of Congress and down the hallways. If you get divided up among homeless shelters, it doesn't do the protest much good because the homeless and freezing don't have much power and they're not real likely to get any soon. The cameras won't follow you there either.The group looks much better as a large group than scattered, powerless sub groups. And the holidays are coming. I mentioned this on this blog about a month ago. This protest needed to be started in March, not in September when the freezing months are coming. It might be time to occupy DC for a few months to weather the cold inside the halls of Congress. One third of them are up for re-election with ears to the ground listening to the demands of constituents and then there's the case of the never ending Presidency campaigning. Hopefully,this works to Occupier's advantage. Does Obama and the other hoodlums want to appear guilty of throwing the people out of their own Congress? What a front page news story that will be in every news paper in the world. I'm picturing the entire world press corps camped on the lawns with their media trucks while the Congress decide what to do with their own constituents. But remember, most of them go home for the holidays.
If the halls of Congress are not on the schedule, you could either do what I suggested long ago and rent efficiency hotel rooms with kitchenettes by the month or ground floor/first floor apartments a distance away. If not this, then maybe Occupy all the southern warm states where they need help getting the numbers out like AZ, NM,TX, LA, MS, AL, GA and FL. There are quite a few southern states that are not well organized and need the experience of the northern occupiers. And the southern states are Republitard strongholds with elections going on. You could really rattle their cages in the warmth. But if you totally abandon the Zuccotti park area, they will probably dream up some major project to keep you out of there next year so you need to prepare for that. The occupying tents definitely work and the look of them shouldn't be sacrificed if at all possible.
Seriously though, there are ways to demonstrate throughout the Winter. We can't and shouldn't occupy Zuccotti forever. It's time for a stage 2.
The problem is that once we vacate Zuccotti, the owners and Buggerberg are going to dream up a dandy excuse to make sure we can't come back. That's like handing them a free ticket to destroy. Maybe one of these lower priced hotels with kitchenettes that you rent out on a monthly basis, or an apartment further away from Manhattan prices. Having it declared a shelter and entitling it to heating and tenting arrangements would be good. Shelters have managers that would know that process.
Who is the reigning "super shelter" activist now working for NYC, Manhattan? You guys need to stick it out - if not for the social symbolism of the OWS people would leave the forum, get up from the table and ask WS for dessert! peace AtomicZ...
I have no idea who is in charge of finding that out but they better do it quickly. They may have to alternate tents and hotel rooms. The best rates are on the monthly rooms
OR... SOME VERY VERY SMART PRODUCER in HOLLYWOOD - stay with me here - will file to shoot a film in Zuccotti Park over the winter... A HOLLYWOOD film crew brings in trailers of food / showers / telecommunications & the promise of archival footage of the ideas and ideals you're OWS has begun... A large film crew with the right permits could protect OWS all winter long! peace AtomicZ...
Why would the company allow this to happen to their park? It is up to them, not OWS, what goes on there.
HOLLYWOOD ... it's a worldwide given ... no one can resist ... peace AtomicZ...
That's genius. Have you sent this in an email to Michael Moore and Robert Greenwald? Maybe one of them can help out. You can email it to Occupy. Greenwald hasn't answered me yet but I know he has been there and comments on the movement. Moore answers and takes action.
OK we've got some traction here - what are their addresses? are they under the radar? If so can you pick up the ball and relay the idea to them? peace AtomicZ...
I have so many balls in the air, I can't promise anything but I will try. Michael Moore can be reached at his web site MichaelMoore.com. he reads his emails from that site. he showed up to Occupy the next day after I pleaded with him. I can't remember Robert Greenwald's email. I have to go check my email to find it. He does take action but did not respond. They are both pretty current on Twitter so @ them in the tool bar and you will find them. They have answered that way. The first @MichaelMoore you find, is not him. It's a doctor. The producer Michael Moore is located at @MMFlint (for Flint Michigan) Probably several of us should contact them. There is also Robert Redford and IFC studios which have stopped by. They are always shooting films around the globe.
Perhaps never fully leave then? I think we should seriously consider dropping the camping aspect come winter, but still maintain a presence.
We should flash mob subways for warmth, like improv-everywhere.
There are real homeless people and not enough shelters to help them as it is. For OWS to further burden this system would be disingenuous.
Great Point!!! which is why OWS has to be unique in it's solution? Any ideas? peace AtomicZ...
I think it has to be rotations and pretty short ones at that. Like the way picket lines work, to stay in the park.
But we run the risk of the symbol becoming the purpose. The park is not occupied for the sake of occupying a park.
I believe taking it online can be the next step but in doing so something new is going to have to be developed. The virtual GA. How can a virtual GA be developed which actually works? Talk about a fascinating experiment. I think eDemocracy is the next step. So I would invest a big chunk of the funds raised in tech to create a living breathing virtual GA.
Then, I would start trying to apply that model to local government. Find some progressive communities willing to take it on. If successful it could catch on and grow.
And let me be clear when I say eDemocracy I mean electronic DIRECT democracy not just a web-based means of electing the same schmoes we do today.
Looking to the future I now think moving the entire OWS to DC is the best idea because: One logical conclusion here is the tax revenue used directly or indirectly by each city to support OWS... If one teacher or firefighter or peace officer looses their job due to cutbacks from diminishing tax revenue in the "O" cities then OWS is doing a disservice to that city... Which flies in the face of the principals of a moral society. Which you are all here to uphold. Moving the party to DC will create a fresh media event [ keeping OWS on the radar ] and will relieve any city services now in place to support OWS in all of the major cities - You all now and are living the financial meltdown... OWS simply does not have the luxury to use the public money in this way. Collectively OWS relocation into DC [ not sure about this ] would be taping federal money... peace AtomicZ...
If you plan to occupy I would keep numbers down to minimal and cycle new people in and out. Stay for one week out for two you can get reenergized and stocked on your time off and wash clothes and reboot. I would focus more on just keeping the spot occupied so you don't lose it
I don't think they'll let that happen. They're counting on freezing us out. We need to be prepared to use other methods of protesting and raising awareness. We need new solutions. We need to organize sit ins, marches, and PR campaigns.
Suggestion: Re-base camp someplace reasonably warm; from there do marches, flier advertizing, and web based media floods. That'll put a cramp in the moneyscum's plan to freeze you out.
Occupy....Grand Central Terminal? =O
Alice, I like your spirit... your grasp of this moment... I too am on the side on something completely new & different... tricking the tricky isn't the game anymore... the game is over OWS wins ... now on to a better moral society! peace AtomicZ...
Sooo truuuue.