downtown
SHEDDING LIGHT ON HUNGER, PG. 16
express
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VOLUME 24, NUMBER 26
THE NEWSPAPER OF LOWER MANHATTAN
Zuccotti cleared, closed, then re-occupied BY ALINE REYNOLDS, CYNTHIA MAGNUS AND JOHN BAYLES This time there was no warning, no advance notice and no time to organize; the clearing of Occupy Wall Street demonstrators from Zuccotti Park, in the wee hours of the morning on Tuesday, took everyone by surprise. At approximately 1 a.m. NYPD officers surrounded the park. Mayor Michael Bloomberg, at a press conference later Tuesday morning said the park’s owners, Brookfield Office Properties, had reached out to him and asked for help in enforcing park rules pertaining to health and safety. “In our view… it would have been irresponsible to not request that the city take action,” said Brookfield in a statement. “Further, we have a legal obligation to the city and to this neighborhood to keep the park accessible to all who wish to enjoy it, which had become impossible.” At the press conference, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, who led the evacuation said the protesters were given until 3:30 a.m. to collect their personal belongings and leave. Though Brookfield solicited Bloomberg’s help in temporarily evacuating the park, the Mayor took full responsibility for the action. “Make no mistake — the final decision to act was mine, and mine alone,” said Bloomberg. “I don’t feel bad, because [protestors] can come right back in.” While First Amendment rights are “number one on our minds,” Bloomberg Continued on page 4
NOVEMBER 16 - 22, 2011
B.P.C.A. abruptly fires nineteen employees
Downtown Express photo by Milo Hess
BY TERESE LOEB KREUZER As far as most people who worked for the Battery Park City Authority knew, Wednesday, Nov. 9, was going to be another ordinary day at the office. But when they came in that morning, there was a sign that said, “Do not touch your computer.” A staff meeting was scheduled for 10:30 a.m. “The president [Gayle Horwitz] came in and said there would be a mass termination,” according to one staff member. “She instructed everyone to go back to their cubicles. She said that if you got an envelope, you had until 12 noon to leave the premises.” “There were four, huge, scary security people there,” another employee said. “The entire staff was traumatized — even the people who didn’t get fired. Everybody was very shaken because nobody knew what this was about, but clearly something horrible was happening.” A woman from human resources was delegated to walk around the office handing out envelopes with a letter of termination. “She was like the Angel of Death,” said one staff member who was let go. “She walked by some people and stopped at others, handing them an envelope. It was all public. Everyone knew. People were screaming and crying.” “When I received my envelope, I broke down. I was hysterical,” said another staff member. “I had never been fired. I live check to check. I’m the sole provider in
An NYPD officer stands watch at Zuccotti Park on Tuesday morning following the city’s eviction of Occupy Wall Street demonstrators.
Continued on page 18