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Thanks, NYPD: OWS Library Wins Settlement As City Hemorrhages More Money
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Apr 10, 2013
Modified Apr 10, 2013
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By
Christopher Robbins
Published Apr 10, 2013
Modified Apr 10, 2013
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Nearly a year after they sued, the People's Library of Occupy Wall Street won a settlement with the City to make up for the 3,600 books that were confiscated during the raid of Zuccotti Park in November of 2011. Of those that were confiscated in the midnight police action, 2,800 of them were destroyed. "Our clients are pleased," said Norman Siegel, the attorney for the librarians. "We had asked for $47,000 in damages, and we were able to get exactly what we asked for." The City will be footing the $47K, along with Siegel's attorneys fees of $186,349—more of your tax dollars to pad the "historical high" number of settlements paid out because of the NYPD's actions.
Siegel said that crucial to his clients' decision to settle was that the City was contrite in the language of the agreement. "Very often in settlements there is language in which the party admits no wrongdoing. There is no such language in this settlement," Siegel noted. "This case was about the importance of libraries and the violation of people's constitutional rights. The City came to a realization that 2,600 books were destroyed, and that they had a weak case."
One such passage of the settlement reads, "Defendants acknowledge and believe it is unfortunate that in the course of clearing Zuccotti Park, books were damaged so as to render them unusable. In addition, books are unaccounted for."
The City also settled the case of the livestreamers Global Revolution Television, whose equipment was also destroyed in the raid. The livestreamers received $75,000 and their attorneys nabbed $49,850 in attorneys fees. Time's Up! also received $8,000 for their bike-powered generators that were destroyed in the raid.
“It was absolutely necessary for the City to address the rapidly growing safety and health threats posed by the Occupy Wall street encampment," Sheryl Neufeld, senior counsel at the Law Department said in a statement. "There are many reasons to settle a case, and sometimes that includes avoiding the potential for drawn out litigation that bolsters plaintiff attorney fees.”
If the librarians had gone to trial, they may have gleaned more about how the raid on Zuccotti Park was coordinated, and who ordered the property to be destroyed. "We know that the planning was not very efficient, and they never got a court order to seize the books, which was a violation in our opinion," Siegel said. "This could have gone on a couple more years, and we would have learned more, but we followed the judge's instructions to make a good-faith effort to settle."
Brookfield Properties, which was named as a co-defendant by the City in the case, will foot $15,666.16 of the bill. City attorneys claimed that it was the carting company Brookfield hired that destroyed property, not Sanitation workers or NYPD officers, despite ample video evidence to the contrary. The librarians will announce at a press conference this morning what they plan to do with the money.
Tagged
Zuccotti Park
time's up
original
peoples library
brookfield properties
occupy wall street
NYPD settlements
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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