NEW YORK—Occupy Wall Street protesters plan to demonstrate outside Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Upper East Side townhouse for 24 hours on Sunday, starting at 2 p.m.
Organizer John Penley is calling it “Occupy Bloomberg’s Mansion Drum Circle Protest And Love-In Art Show,” and wants it to be like “a party.”
“We know that people are getting beaten up and we don’t want people to get arrested,” Penley said.
Protesters are bringing sleeping bags, drums, and other musical instruments, with some donning costumes.
The sidewalk of the block surrounding Bloomberg’s residence has been barricaded as a “frozen zone” by police.
A spokeswoman for the mayor’s office said there “needs to be a balance between public assembly and public safety,” and the sidewalk directly in front of Bloomberg’s house is not a free speech zone where the protesters, who don’t live there, can play percussion instruments.
On Tuesday, Bloomberg made the decision to take down tents in Zuccotti Park, and said on John Gambling’s radio show on Friday that the protesters will be allowed back in the park, but the park needs to be open to the public as well.
“You have to give people time to express themselves; if you had tried to do it [take the tents down] earlier, it’s not clear to me the courts would have permitted it,” Bloomberg said. “Courts want to be convinced that you are protecting people’s First Amendment rights.”
Bloomberg added that he feels it’s time to go forward now. “There are problems in the country. You can make yourself heard, which has been done, but now I think it’s time to build our economy and create those jobs people need.”
