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Boston is not New York

Only in Boston. Photo by Occupy BostonOnly in Boston. Photo by Occupy Boston.

Unlike in New York, where police herd protesters onto illegal walkways, then arrest them, Boston Police have not interfered with Occupy Boston's First Amendment rights. Yesterday afternoon, police even blocked side streets along Newbury so protesters could march down the street.

On Friday night, police could easily have gotten out their pepper spray and plastic handcuffs and fired away as protesters walked over to the front doors of the Federal Reserve Bank; instead, they formed a line in front of the building and let the protesters have their say (still, just in case, Occupy Boston's legal team keeps telling people to write the National Lawyers Guild's emergency numbers somewhere on their bodies).

Keori tweeted yesterday from Dewey Square, where Occupy Boston's set up its tent city:

I often go over and ask if BPD want anything but they say no. We smile and thank them. They've been great.

Meanwhile, Marjorie Eagan says if she has to choose between what one New York paper called "spoiled brats" and fat cats, she'll take the kids every time:

Well, I'll take spoiled brats over the rest of us complacent sheep who just lie down and take what’s happened here: that is, a corrupt Wall Street that bankrupted millions of Americans, through no fault of their own. The financiers not only escape prosecution but get bailed out by taxpayers. Now these same financiers are underwriting campaigns of politicians who are supposed to fix this mess to benefit the public, not the high-rollers who stuff their campaign chests.

Tent City

Mystery Pill has been spending some time at Dewey Square. Steve Annear at the Metro is livetweeting from there today.

Photo copyright Mystery Pill. Posted in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.

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Comments

Boston.com because I've yet to say a mention of this event. Why, they must need the space to glorify John Henry some more for being such a visionary.

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but Boston.com seems to have something about Occupy Wall Street.

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2011/10/02...

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Why do I get the feeling that some of those tents were shared by cops and protestors making love not war after a long day

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Well, I guess we can all agree on at least one thing - that the folks who maintain the greenway landscaping are not that excited about this. That grass isn't going to be in such great shape next week.

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On the plus side, its probably the most use the greenway has ever seen

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. . . and that is just a dumb statement considering that it was packed from the Aquarium to the North End every single weekend this summer. In fact - i'd say Greenway use by people surpasses the Boston Common on some weekends.

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I live in the North End, too, and I get so tired of hearing people sneer at the Greenway. Come out to the North End after 5pm or any time on a weekend with halfway decent weather, and it's a vibrant, thriving park in the middle of the city.

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. . . the animosity towards it. But this "No one uses it" meme is just ridiculous. Yup- I sometimes sit in that North End section with the fountains after 5PM and just people watch (and dog watch- lots of entertaining dogs). Not used? Then you haven't been there.

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among the "we need more luxury condo's / high end bars" crowd.

Personally, I think it's an awesome park and it always seems busy to me.

If we could get some small trees and possibly slow down traffic a bit, it be even better.

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It never ceases to amaze me how people can refer to a narrow strip of land, a LITERAL median strip, surrounded on both sides by fume belching noisy traffic, as a "park". Try to even GET to the median strip through the traffic sometimes. Have we so diluted the definition of "park" as to include this? Are people so hungry for "green space" in the city that this ungainly thing is "a park"?
Everything about it offends my sensibilities, and I am NOT a ""we need more luxury condo's/high end bars" person. Yet, neither am I an "any green space in the city at all costs is better than not green space" person. I say phooey to the "Greenway".

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Guess the esplanade is "shoulder strip" by your definition.

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Please tell me, you can't seriously consider the two comparable. You must have some ability to distinguish between them, in spite of the fact that they are both narrow and linear.

The Esplinade fronts a river, with many quiet and secluded areas for viewing/contemplation. It enjoys miles of uninterupted trails for cycling, running, and walking.

The RKG fronts two mega roadways, is frequently interrupted by cross streets, highway on-ramps, and massive ventilation structures. No continuous trails, no bikes allowed, no quite and secluded locations. It may be a nice median strip, but it is still a median strip.

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also didn't just pop into existence from pouting and bad will.

People worked years to get it to where it is now.

The RKG is an infant. It's not even close to done yet, and a lot can be done to make it a better green space. But sitting here and bitching about it as a "median strip" won't do much, and will eventually undermine the people working to make it something better.

If it's just a "median strip", mise' well sell it off to private developers to throw some more luxury condos on, eh?

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Note the differences I listed. Those are inherently not possible with for the RKG to remedy. Furthermore, it cannot provide shade trees due to soil depth. Your last clause is actually a good idea, not necessarily luxury condos (where do you get this bizare idea that not liking the greenway means we want luxury condos?), but structures. We should sell every parcel that contains a ramp. The ramps already obstruct the flow of the park, so let's make better use of these parcels, then take the money generated by the air rights sale/lease and put it into the remaining parcels which could remain as park. And let's drop the expressways on either side down to 2 lanes each, add some bike lanes/ recreational use pathways, and then we will indeed have something with long term potential.

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Steve Anderson, Director of Park Operations for the Conservancy, said he came to talk with the protesters when he saw social media messages encouraging occupation on the greenway all the way to the North End. In an effort not to lose all the work his organization has put into the park, he asked participants to stay out of areas with plants and to contain the settlement to Dewey Square. He said for now he’ll ignore the rule prohibiting anyone from being in the park after 11 p.m. To make up for the damage the park lawn will sustain, organizers offered to return to Dewey Square on Earth Day 2012, to help re-seed the park.

From here: http://www.openmediaboston.org/node/2023

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Grass will grow back, hard won rights turned over to and trampled by government and corporations, not so much...

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Many of the tents are empty put up by organizers for photos to post around. It's really questionable what's going on. dewey square is as empty as any other sunday.

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. . . and I just drove by there- street lined with people on both sides of the park- and more people than I have seen EVER in that area of the Greenway.

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Why would they be full during the day?

People are off in front of other building protesting. The tens are there for rest.

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IMAGE(http://www.teiofficecondos.com/storage/post-images/BankConsolidationChartFull.jpg)

How's the unregulated, free market working for ya?

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Without regulation, lenders are free to name themselves crap like "The Money Store," and obviously they're going to go out of business.

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If you don't like it, vote with your dollars. Go to a credit union.

-W

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How do they fraking work?

Apparently anon doesn't understand fractional reserve banking. Nor has/she he been paying attention as small credit unions and private banks have been left to go bust and be covered by FDIC; while the 4 behemoths got huge taxpayer bailouts, without any repercussions, or anyone going to jail.

Capitalism breathes off healthy competition. Oligarchy and Monopoly kills capitalism, stunts competition, and hurts the economy.

You simply can't support Capitalism 100%, then run around sticking your fingers in your ears while the system devours itself.

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Putting your deposits in a community credit union is a good way to stop patronizing big finance but it wont change the influence that big finance has over policy in Washington, nor would it have obviated the financial crisis that destroyed our economy and about 25% of the average families' net worth.

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how much more smug can you get? please tells us all the other ways boston is better than anywhere else you pricks

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why don't you stick around and see

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