Occupy Wall Street will celebrate its first anniversary on Monday. To acknowledge the milestone, thousands of protestors are preparing to march from various locations in Manhattan to Foley Square and attempt to surround the New York Stock Exchange.
The New York Times reports how pockets of Occupy Wall Street demonstrators began to gather at the edge of Battery Park as early as Friday, with some outlining the approach to the stock exchange on maps of the city’s financial district. One female protester told the NY Times :
“We want to to block all the access points leading to the stock exchange by linking arms and sitting.”
Called the People’s Wall, the surrounding of the stock exchange is expected to involve hundreds of individuals; one man declared that he represented a group of 30 to 40 people who planned to block an intersection close to the building.
Other activities have been planned to celebrate the Occupy Wall Street anniversary. According to protesters, the goal is to raise awareness of corporate money in politics, the foreclosure of homes and the type of risky speculation by firms such as JP Morgan Chase, which lost around $9 billion this year gambling on credit derivatives.
In total, three days of events are planned under the title “All Roads Lead to Wall Street.” As well as assorted marches and a Rosh Hashana service, a concert in Foley Square will also be staged, and will feature musicians from the Dead Kennedys, Sonic Youth and Rage Against the Machine.
The police are also ready, however. On Saturday night, 15 arrests were made during a sidewalk march from Washington Square to Zuccotti Park, while there were reports of an additional 22 arrests on Saturday, including 17 near Trinity Church, where protesters have been sleeping.
Last year saw police close off part of Wall Street in response to the protests, but demonstrators soon set up camp in Zuccotti Park . The initiative inspired a further 100+ camps across the United States and other countries.