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| Demonstrators rally on Wall Street in lower Manhattan in New York, U.S., on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2011. |
New York City police may limit
access to Wall Street for a third day, requiring workers and
residents to show identification, after a weekend of protests
targeting financial firms.
The arrangements, including the identification requirement,
“will be re-assessed” this morning, Paul Browne, a police
spokesman, said in an e-mail.
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| Demonstrators rally at Bowling Green park in lower Manhattan on Saturday. |
About 300 to 400 people demonstrated near Chase Manhattan
Plaza yesterday, down from 1,000 on Sept. 17, for a protest
dubbed “#OccupyWallStreet.” A smaller group, followed by a
column of police motorcycles, marched uptown on Broadway as
people beat drums, strummed guitars and held up signs reading
“end corporate welfare” and “we are too big to fail.”
The demonstration aims to get President Barack Obama to
establish a commission to end “the influence money has over our
representatives in Washington,” according to the website of
Adbusters, a group promoting the demonstration that asked
protesters to occupy Wall Street “for a few months.”
“People have a right to protest, and if they want to
protest, we’ll be happy to make sure they have locations to do
it,” New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Sept. 15 at a
press conference. “As long as they do it where other people’s
rights are respected, this is the place where people can speak
their minds, and that’s what makes New York, New York.”
Police partitioned Wall Street’s pedestrian walkway
throughout the weekend, preventing the protesters from gaining a
toehold there.
Protest Area
The city established a protest area on Broad Street and
Exchange Place, adjacent to the New York Stock Exchange, that
protesters elected not to use, Browne said. Employees and
residents seeking access to Wall Street between Broadway and
William Street were required to show identification, he said.
New York Stock Exchange owner NYSE Euronext (NYX), Deutsche Bank
AG (DBK) and Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (BK) are among firms with
operations in the area. Bank of America Corp. (BAC), JPMorgan Chase &
Co. (JPM), Morgan Stanley (MS) and Citigroup Inc. (C) are among financial firms
whose main offices aren’t on Wall Street.
Rich Adamonis, a spokesman at NYSE Euronext, Duncan King of
Deutsche Bank, and Bank of New York’s Ron Gruendl declined to
comment on the demonstration.
Protests also are planned for financial districts in
Madrid, Milan, London and Paris, according to a bulletin from
the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center
obtained by Bloomberg News. The NCCIC is part of the Department
of Homeland Security. Chris Ortman, an agency spokesman,
confirmed the bulletin’s authenticity.
The mayor is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg
News parent Bloomberg LP.
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