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Did The City Purposefully Destroy Occupy Wall Street's Property?
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Nov 19, 2011
Modified Nov 19, 2011
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By
Christopher Robbins
Published Nov 19, 2011
Modified Nov 19, 2011
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During the nighttime raid of Zuccotti Park, the NYPD, with the help of the Department of Sanitation, confiscated the items that the Occupy Wall Street protesters had used to make the area home. Demonstrators were told that they could pick up their property, which was just moved so the NYPD could do some mopping, at a Sanitation building on West 57th street. However, there was no mention of what condition the items would be in, and Motherboard reports that computers taken in the raid were broken and dented, appearing to have been "smashed with bats."
A reporter followed Isaac Wilder, a member of OWS' Signal Corps, which was charged with providing Wi-Fi in Zuccotti, as he entered the Sanitation building to collect his property taken in the raid: a backpack, a nine-foot tall tower containing wireless routers, and $5,000 in cash. No press are allowed in the building, and Wilder describes the mound of personal affects as "a large heap of damp, mangled, cat-piss smelling stuff." He finds all the broken computers, laid out in a row.
A Sanitation rep tells Motherboard that he's "not surprised" that the laptops are damaged, and neither are we considering that witnesses to the raid described the "crunching" sound of the contents of Zuccotti Park being dumped into truck beds. Wilder didn't end up finding any of his property; it appears to be lost along with the items from the library, medical tent, and other portions of the park that accrued two months worth of resources.
But don't worry: if the protesters feel that their property was "mishandled or misplaced" you can always fill out a form. Plus, the park's floor is clean enough to eat off it (if you're a pigeon). It's all part of the NYPD's new cleaning service. You won't even notice they're working. We've contacted the NYPD and the Sanitation Department for comment.
Tagged
crime
nypd
NYPD cleaning service
occupy wall street
raid
sanitation department
theft
Zuccotti Park
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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