#OccupyWallStreet Visits the Upper East Side

From Naked Capitalism:

What a pleasant surprise. I was on the phone and heard chanting and drumbeats outside, and lo and behold, it was OccupyWallStreet across the street from me (on the west side of Park Avenue). Unfortunately, I have meetings this PM and so I could only run out briefly to see them on the street, but this was a perfect day to come this far uptown. The police told me they had walked up from Zuccotti Park, that’s a good 7-8 mile hike.

Quick impressions: the marchers were fairly densely packed on the sidewalk, extending 2-3 blocks, so I’d say at least 300 people, probably closer to 500.

The cop coverage was intense: several paddy wagons, lost on motorcycles and in the little cars (not standard issue cop cars, a form factor more like little Postal Service delivery people). The policing was doing much more to disrupt traffic than the marchers were.

People on the street seemed mainly bemused, a lot of picture taking and people standing on corners across the street to watch. Some seemed to be chatting to people they didn’t necessarily know well. A few perplexed faces and a few genuinely sour faces.

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/10/occupywallstreet-visits-the-upper-east-side.html