Working down in the Financial District in Manhattan is amazing. It is a very local neighborhood that is busy but relatively quiet most of the time. The last two months have proven to be a little bit different.This week was the official two month anniversary of the movement. I came off of the train to hundreds of people chanting about 10 different injustices. There were of course hundreds of police officers and another thousand people just trying to go to work. It made for an...interesting scene.
I was thrilled to have to walk about 10 blocks out of my way and watch people taunt the police, just begging to be formally introduced to pepper spray. There were many times that the protesters were literally asking for the police to arrest them. I kind of wish that would have worked out so I could have gotten to work without the tour of the entire neighborhood. I guess if I had chosen to sleep in a park I may not mind a night in a warm dry jail cell either.
Regardless of your political views everyone has to feel bad for the local businesses that are being harmed by this protest. I have spoken to at least 5 or 6 cart vendors (selling coffee, water and food) and restaurants that all say that business is down since late September and some have had to lay people off. Seems that the protesters are hurting the 99% more than they realize.
