By Matthew Russell Lee
LOWER MANHATTAN, November 17 -- Two days after the Occupy Wall Street encampment on Liberty Street was evicted, demonstrators converged two blocks south on Pine Street.
They were met with riot equipped police. A sit in at the intersection of William Street and Pine ensued complete with arrests, sometimes violent, and chants from the crowd about shutting Wall Street down.
From the raised esplanade of Chase Manhattan Plaza bank worker looked down on the mass arrests. Referring to the bailouts, a sign asked of the JPMorgan Chase CEO, "Jaime Dimon, I want my money back!"
The crowd chanted "shame" as police pushed a protester's face into the asphalt. "Get back on the sidewalk," a policeman in a visor and helmet ordered Inner City Press. The crowd began singing the National Anthem. Overhead police helicopters hovered.
An arrest video is here, on Inner City Press' YouTube channel
Police prepare arrests at sit-in, Pine & William St, #N17 (c) MRLee
On the way to the sit in, a rag tag jazz band played. A group dressed in foliage held signs, "Shrubs Against Hedge Fund Abuse" and chanted, "Bloomberg beware, Liberty Park is everywhere."
Whether the New York Stock Exchange was shut or slowed down wasn't known to the crowd. Those leaving to head elsewhere to work, for example to cover the UN Security Council at 10 am, found that the 4 and 5 train IRT subways weren't working.
The day previous in Washington, the #OccupyDC camp in McPherson Square was peaceful.
#OccupyDC in drizzle, McPherson #N16 (c) MRLee
The Occupiers had targeted a building owned by Brookfield Properties, which owns Zuccotti Park and asked for the eviction. On Constitution Avenue at the Federal Reserve Board, police patrols the landscaped grounds.
In Fed's temple #N16, #OccupyTheFed not shown (c) MRLee
