Occupy Albany
How Albany's little Occupy movement has given Andrew Cuomo big fits
ALBANY—There are no more than three dozen of them during the day, milling, munching, strumming and holding signs amid the 75 tents they plopped in a park between the Capitol and City Hall.
Occupy Albany isn’t very menacing on its face—it's much smaller and more poorly endowed than its big brother, Occupy Wall Street. But like most things here it has been pulled into the orbit of state government and its guiding star, Andrew Cuomo.
Last Thursday about 90 people marched from “Cuomoville” to the governor’s office across the street, decrying him along the way as “Governor One Percent” for refusing to reauthorize an income-tax surcharge on New Yorkers making more than $200,000 a year.
Make no mistake: Cuomo has faced pressure on his left flank before, from coalitions with far more boots and money than the demonstrators have. They have brought hundreds, at times over 1,000, people to the Capitol halls. More
(2)November 1, 2011 1:00 pm
Cuomo says the state is accustomed to protesters, 'will enforce the law'
On former governor David Paterson's radio show this afternoon, Governor Andrew Cuomo made it clear how he'll handle any Occupy movements that the state might be forced to confront. "From the state’s point of view, this is basically not a new situation for us," he said. "We are accustomed to having thousands of people show up to demonstrate one thing or the other." Cuomo cited the large groups that descended on the Capitol during the last legislative session to rally for, and against, same-sex marriage and the millionaire's tax. He said that was "democracy in action," and cited his own demonstrating, at a concert opposing the Rockefeller Drug Laws, as evidence that he "respects" the right to protest. "We also believe in the rule of law," he said. And we enforce the law. Individual cities will make their own determinations." More
(1)October 24, 2011 6:33 pm
Russell Simmons emphasizes Bloomberg's common ground with protesters; Cuomo simmers
Michael Bloomberg is not the enemy of the Occupy Wall Street protesters, said rap producer Russell Simmons, who also implored the mayor to raise his voice about the corrupting influence of corporate and special-interest money in politics.
Simmons is trying to draw Bloomberg out on what is, arguably, the one topic on which the mayor is in firm agreement with the protesters. More
October 24, 2011 4:58 pm
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