The New Obstacle of the Occupy Wall Street Protest in Zuccotti Park

On October 13, 2011, an article by Anemona Hartocollis was published in the New York Times about a new obstacle of the then-month-long Occupy Wall Street protest. Having made arrests throughout the streets of New York on terms of “public safety Violations,” law enforcement officials have yet to intervene in the biggest protest zone of all: Zuccotti Park. Here protesters have set down camp and maintain a constant presence The park is privately owned by Brookfield Properties but open to the public at all times.

Brookfield managers made statements about the protesters hindering the quiet use of the park by members of the community, though they took no action to remove the protesters. Now, however, they have created new rules for the park so that no tents or sleeping bags are permitted, and lying down is prohibited.

Many people believe that the untimely implementation of these new rules was specifically an attempt to end the protesters’ presence in the park. Also, the park owners decided to clean the park so that all people would have to leave the areas being cleaned.

In response, the protesters took it upon themselves to clean the park for the owners so that they would not have reason to leave. While the cleaning issue was solved by the protesters, city officials maintain that the rules implemented by Brookfield will be enforced in the protection of the rights of both parties: Brookfield to make their own rules for their property and the protesters to speak and protest freely under lawful conditions.

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The protesters have a valid point behind their messages, focusing on the disproportional distribution of wealth in America, and it is commendable that they make such a powerful statement for their beliefs.

While it is ridiculous that the park owners would try to force the protesters to leave with new rules, the city is right in enforcing the rules. The protesters do have the right to protest but only to the point at which other parties’ rights are not violated, namely the right of Brookfield [0 make and enforce certain rules on their property. The cleaning by the protesters points out the ridiculousness of the park owners’ reasoning behind removing them from the park, and this was also a commendable action by the protesters. As long as the city still allows the protest to go on outside of the park when the protesters do leave, the rights of all will remain respected and the point of a protest that needs to be heard will be. The government should take note of this explicit display of public opinion and use it to implement positive change.