New York Stays Open as Protests Flare

Image by getty images

A New Struggle Demonstrators faced off with police all day long in New York. About 200 people were arrested. Mayor Bloomberg said it could have been worse. Image by getty images

Occupy Wall Street protesters rallied all day but failed to shut down the stock exchange or bring millions of New Yorkers’ commute to a halt, news reports said.

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in lower Manhattan, clogging streets but failing to shut down subways. There were snafus, but few signs of the tens of thousands that organizers had vowed would create chaos. The New York Stock Exchange operated as scheduled despite some streets being blocked outside.

Police said about 200 demonstrators had been arrested. Seven police officers suffered minor injuries, officials said.

By late afternoon, demonstrators were marching to Union Square to join a student-led protest in that traditional fulcrum of dissent. They also planned to march on the Brooklyn Bridge, the scene of mass arrests in the early days of the protest.

“They have caused minimal disruption to the city,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.

The Occupy protesters decided to mount the day of action after police ousted them from Zuccotti Park, where they had been camped out for two months.

A judge ruled the demonstrators could use the park, but could not sleep there with tents and camping gear.

Since the protest began, it has spread into a nationwide movement with satellite rallies in cities nationwide.