From Zuccotti Park to the Brooklyn Bridge, the Occupy Wall Street marchers were escorted and directed every step of the way by courteous NYPD officers. Half a mile away, the entrance to the bridge sits across busy Centre Street. The police held up the marchers periodically, allowing traffic to pass, then let them onto the bridge in spurts. Once across Centre Street the walkway began, between the Brooklyn-bound and Manhattan-bound traffic lanes, separated by a low railing. As throngs of marchers crossed Centre Street, they spilled across both walkway and roadway as they approached the bridge, but were directed by NYPD toward the walkway.
The walkway runs even with the traffic lanes for a short distance, before gradually climbing above the roadway. The gauntlet of police officers, which had contained and directed the marchers from park to bridge, were absent along this stretch, and a few marchers crossed the railing, and began walking in the roadway; which for some reason, also was absent car traffic [possibly bridge traffic was also being stopped to allow marchers access to the bridge]. Presently car traffic resumed and kept to the right, as the marchers walked in the left and center lanes.
The marchers in the roadway were exuberantly encouraging the marchers on the walkway to join them on that side, calling out "they CAN'T arrest ALL of us," and "Whose bridge?...OUR bridge!" Many did join them, too. The few police on that part of the bridge were walking with the marchers in the roadway, and not making any effort to send them back to the pedestrian side, or discourage those now flocking to climb over the fence, before it go too high, as the walkway ascended.
Eventually, enough marchers filled the roadway that car traffic moved slowly alongside them in the right lane, and then all movement completely halted. A little further along, the reason for the stoppage became apparent: the police had sealed off the entire side of the bridge, and begun making arrests.
Some marchers on the roadway were probably looking to get arrested, to escalate the level of confrontation, possibly in hopes of generating more media coverage. If so, they succeeded in that. Most of those who joined them, though, did so spontaneously, not having thought it through.
Protests which are horizontally organized, while better able to resist infiltration and co-option, have more difficulty defining goals and tactics. The de facto leaders of the march had instructed the marchers before stepping off, that walking in the street, or stopping, or obstructing traffic would likely lead to arrest, but there was no discussion of whether that would be desirable or effective.
As the arrests proceeded, recorded by hundreds of cameras, the police were well disciplined, and held all of the strategic advantage. The marchers were clearly out of bounds, and had no easy escape. The police could work at their leisure, and the resulting traffic delays, affecting mostly Saturday night social travel, could be laid to the unruly protesters. Meanwhile, the march itself was fractured; half made it across to the designated park in Brooklyn, while the rest had been stranded on the Manhattan side, when the bridge was closed.
The popular reaction to the event, as it unfolded, remains to be seen. There was plenty of media coverage, and public relations were being spun by both sides. Despite the superior tactics and discipline shown by the NYPD, the increased media exposure could yield a net positive result for Occupy Wall Street, if they use it to connect with enough of the 99% they claim are affected by Wall Street shenanigans. If not, the movement will be set back.
Either way, the divergence of the two groups during the march shows weakness in the organization; a vulnerability which could be exploited, and uncertainty which could inhibit attracting greater numbers of participants. Perhaps that is intentional, in keeping with the loosely defined purpose of the occupation itself. Discussions in groups around Zuccoti Park, before the march, were wide ranging, intense, and open ended. In protest against powerful hierarchal organizations like Wall St., the acceptance of widely divergent points of political departure infuses great energy, but requires levels of individual tolerance difficult to maintain.
Media coverage of the occupation seems more focused on trying to figure out the dynamic of the movement itself, than scrutinizing the financial miscreants that are its purpose. It will be a challenge to induce exposure of individual targets for change, among the diverse constituencies represented in Zuccoti Park. So far there has not been a visible effort to prioritize issues.
Signs carried in the march declared the strength inherent in union, and chants of "People united, will never be defeated" moved the march up Broadway on Saturday afternoon. Can the union of this occupation be sustained without emergence of a command structure? I hope so.
No comments:
Post a Comment