Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Drummers At Occupy Wall Street Demand $8,000 At General Assembly
By
John Del Signore
Published Oct 21, 2011
Modified Oct 21, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
John Del Signore
Published Oct 21, 2011
Modified Oct 21, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Last night's General Assembly meeting in Zuccotti Park was "one of most contentious ever," in large part due to a heated debate over whether the drummers at Occupy Wall Street should be given $8,000 from the movement's coffers to buy more drums and equipment. It seems some of the drums were stolen or vandalized, and the drummers asked the General Assembly to help them regroup. "We have worked for you! Appreciate us," one drummer told the crowd, but the appeal was denied, and the Huff Post's Craig Kanalley tweeted, "Drummer who didn't get money from GA tonight now yelling, cursing at members of GA." Meanwhile, another member of the drum corps was lashing out at the Community Board meeting.
"I am an occupier, I am a drummer, and, despite what they say, I am also a human being," Ashley Love, a young member of the OWS People of Color Working Group, told the packed Community Board meeting last night. Mother Jones reports that Love was met with booing when she informed the locals, "It's primarily a commercial area; not too many people live there. The majority of the drummers are people of color with low-income or no-income backgrounds, and Wall Street was built by slaves when they brought the Africans over here. The council people back then prohibited drumming because it was a way of protesting. It was a way of communication. And I just think you guys are scapegoating us."
(Bethany O'Grady/Gothamist)
One of the biggest complaints from local residents is the noise at Zuccotti Park, and last night the CB 1 committee passed a resolution limiting "the use of drums, trumpets, tambourines, bugles, and air horns to two hours per day, in midday." But the drummers want to expand, not contract. "We need to grow," drummer Elijah Moses, 19, of Astoria, said last night. As luck would have it, Russell Simmons was down at Zuccotti park handing out cash this afternoon. Jonathan Vergara, a music producer, tells us, "He gave one girl who said it was her birthday twenty dollars. She showed her ID and everything. I saw inside his wallet he had 300 dollars cash in there!" Explaining his affinity for the Occupy Wall Street protesters, Simmons tells the Speakeasy, "I’m part of the 100%. If those people suffer, I suffer with them."
(Additional reporting by Bethany O'Grady)
(Bethany O'Grady/Gothamist)
Tagged
drumming
noise complaints
occupy wall street
ows
zuccoptti park
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Police are still investigating bike crash that killed dad of 2 in Central Park
The family is raising money for the wife and two daughters he leaves behind.
By
Brittany Kriegstein
Published Sep 29, 2026 at 9:31 a.m. ET
NYC has a plan to stop homeless people from cycling between hospitals and the streets
The Bridge to Home program, which began last year, will officially expand to Brooklyn on Tuesday.
By
Karen Yi
News
NYC has a plan to stop homeless people from cycling between hospitals and the streets
The Bridge to Home program, which began last year, will officially expand to Brooklyn on Tuesday.
By
Karen Yi
Early Addition: Billy Joel is auctioning off 70 of his motorcycles
By
James Ramsay
Man dragged to death by subway in Brooklyn after getting caught on closing doors
By
Brittany Kriegstein
Upper East Side braces for affordable housing fast track, and backlash from residents
By
David Brand
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .