The peeps protesting as part of "Occupy Wall Street" have been, with a few exceptions, peacefully making their political points about income disparity and greed.
And Mayor Bloomberg, who last month made the wish-he-could-take-it-back prediction that he could see riots in the street if unemployment continued growing, has faced a bit of a conundrum in dealing with the protesters. He doesn't want to create an even bigger issue by having his police department crack down on the Wall Street invaders (although a few cops did get a tad rough the week before last). But he also wants to keep things safe and clean for the atmosphere he is trying to cultivate in Lower Manhattan. The same atmosphere, oftentimes, the demonstrators are protesting.
So far it's worked. But now the owners of Zuccotti Park, a private plot, want to clean up the land after 4 weeks of demonstrators living in conditions that don't quite mirror Woodstock, but aren't exactly out of the KOA Campground franchise handbook.
The demonstrators, sensing something else is afoot, are vowing to fight what they see as an eviction disguised as maintenance.
It could be, of course, that it isn't an eviction; that this is merely an attempt to clean up the mess and the sometimes unsanitary conditions that the owners and the City say exist. But there is no small amount of distrust here. In any event, it's an interesting drama being played out. Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer is now involved, trying to help bridge the negotiations and avoid conflict. But the demonstrators have now called for a 6 a.m. gathering to protest the clean up.
Big drama. And we're down there tonight at 11.
We'll also have reaction from Cheshire, Connecticut, where a jury has found Joshua Komisarjevsky guilty on all 17 counts in the murder of a mother and her two daughters during a brutal home invasion.
And you see it all the time on the streets or in offices – people staring down, at their smart phone devices. We're all doing it so much, there's now a medical condition and term for it – tech neck. And it can be a pain.
Eyewitness News reporter Tim Fleischer takes a closer look at what we've created – and how to treat it.
We'll also have any breaking news of the night, plus Meteorologist Lee Goldberg with his AccuWeather forecast, and Rob Powers with the night's sports. I hope you can join Sade Baderinwa and me, tonight at 11.
