Citing safety concerns New York officials on Friday cut power to Occupy Wall Street protesters who have been living in Zuccotti Park.
Police and firefighters arrived in the park on Friday morning and used a bullhorn to ask protesters for their generators.
According to one protester city officials announced:
“We are here to take the generators, could you please bring them up to us on the corner of Broadway and Liberty Street.”
None of the protesters brought their power producing equipment to the request area at which point more than 30 police officers and firefighters moved into the park and confiscated five or six generators, including one which ran on vegetable oil. Officials also confiscated at least a dozen gas canisters.
While protesters were using the generators to power their electronic devices the power outage comes at a time when their next event is decidedly low-tech with protesters using paper airplanes to deliver their messages. As part of the paper airplane event OWN protesters will mark on Manhattan’s five largest banks and throw paper airplanes made out of protest letters.
Do you think New York City officials overstepped their bounds by taking away Occupy Wall Street generators or were safety concerns a valid reason for the confiscation?
