OWS Dropped Zuccotti Camping Appeal Because "Access Is Unfettered"

Yesterday, the New York Post reported that attorneys representing Occupy Wall Street had dropped their appeal against the city and Brookfield Properties which sought to allow camping in Zuccotti Park. The piece included triumphant quotes from attorney Randy Mastro, who was representing downtown businesses, as well as an attorney for the city. Alan Levine, the attorney representing Occupy Wall Street who argued the case in court on November 15, explained to us why he and his colleagues dropped the case: "We've gotten everything from the city and Brookfield that we wanted…they conceded that access to Zuccotti is unfettered."

Levine was referring to the removal of barricades and checkpoints around Zuccotti Park, which occurred two weeks ago. "There seems to be a tacit acknowledgement that the Constitution, not Brookfield or anyone else, should determine what should go on in the park," Levine says.

But wasn't the most crucial and thorniest issue the camping? And hasn't it been rendered temporarily moot by it being January and all? "You can ask OWS that, anything else would be pure speculation." Won't the tent issue just get kicked up again in a few months? "For all I know they may go camping in Yellowstone. I don't know if an encampment is so important at this point. Zuccotti Park is certainly important to the movement, but to say camping is necessary, I don't know."

To us, the encampment in Zuccotti Park represented the city's and in many ways, the country's pressure point on matters of civil liberties and economic inequality, in addition to being a vibrant, if grungy "village commons," as Levine puts it. It was also a font for the media to disseminate the movement's message of economic justice, one that is echoed now in major public polling.

If Levine, who said that he and other lawyers were considering taking up other Occupy Wall Street-related litigation, refused to speculate on protests as related to the weather, councilmember Jumaane Williams was less circumspect. At last Friday's Occupy the Courts rally in Foley Square, Williams seemed surprised at how many protesters showed up. "If there are 300 of you out here in the cold now, just wait for the spring, baby!"