I just got back home from the HUUUUGE May Day rally in New York City.
Borrowed photo here:
http://twitter.com/...
Just one corner of Union Square:
http://twitter.com/...
Huge crowd marching to Wall St.:
http://twitter.com/...
Reuters calls the event a "dud" as the huge crowds paralyze Manhattan traffic from the Village to Wall St.:
http://twitpic.com/...
Marchers report that so many people have joined that they can't see the end of their own parade:
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Marchers are reporting this could be the biggest action yet:
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HA! Reuters eats crow on the "dud" comment, posts its own live blog page:
http://live.reuters.com/...
I'll add more when I find them.
And I have to tell you:
In New York City, Occupy Wall Street is back!
Here's what I saw today:
I showed up at Union Square at about 4:00 pm. There were already hundreds of people in the park, a number that would soon swell to thousands. The atmosphere was very positive -- people in very high spirits. I would say that the mood was "festive."
Extremely so.
Shortly after I was able to get into the park proper, speakers started giving various annoucements and short speeches from the stage. The organizers had a permit for using the park, and had set up a stage, PA system and other equipment that really helped this time around.
As the first speakers that I heard were talking, more and more people streamed in from the other actions of the day -- and a lot of people looked like they just spontaneously joined from neighboring blocks out of curiosity.
And more people came ... and more ...
After a while, Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine took stage and led the audience through a rendition of Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land." Very moving.
And more people came ...
And there were a few more speakers and musical acts.
Labor unions were once again very well represented -- with the transit workers, nurses, musicians union and other organizations bringing very large numbers.
The signs were a LOT better than last year. This was part of the fun of the event.
The crowd was a great mix of students, office workers, activists of various sorts, union members and even quite a few families. There was an LGBT contingent with colorful signs and flags as well.
Again, the attitude was very upbeat and positive. It was a wonderful way to spend the end of the work day. Better than sitting at my desk, that's for sure ...
At the conclusion of the main event, the crowd took to Broadway and began walking downtown. I'm pretty sure they are approaching Wall St. proper now. Many thousands of people with signs, flags, chanting and singing.
The major news media was screaming with laughter at the low turnout of several early morning events today -- it was pouring rain earlier.
But Occupy Wall Street has had the last laugh.
I wondered how much longer the movement would endure.
But here in New York, it's back -- and I thought just as energized as ever.
Update: People are reporting on Twitter that people are leaving Union Square to march downtown, 90 minutes after the march started. People have blocked Broadway for at least 30 blocks, all the way through the Village to Soho and further south. Marchers are trying to guess in Twitter how many people are marching. Some are guessing 25,000, which seems a lot to me, but there were certainly many thousands of people in Union Square when I left -- and more still arriving.
Update 2: NYCLU says that there are 30,000 marchers.
Update 3: New aerial shot showing several blocks of the march.
Update 4: Finally, video showing the massive crowds.