Sept. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Wall Street firms will be the
target of a nonviolent demonstration in which organizers say
they want 20,000 people to participate with tents, kitchens and
'peaceful barricades' in lower Manhattan.
Dubbed '#OccupyWallStreet,' the goal of the protest
scheduled to start today is to get President Barack Obama to
establish a commission to end 'the influence money has over our
representatives in Washington,' according to the website of
Adbusters, a group promoting the demonstration. Organizers want
participants to 'occupy' the area for 'a few months,'
according to the website.
'People have a right to protest, and if they want to
protest, we'll be happy to make sure they have locations to do
it,' New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Sept. 15 at a
press conference. 'As long as they do it where other people's
rights are respected, this is the place where people can speak
their minds, and that's what makes New York New York.'
The New York City Police Department is aware of the protest
and is 'planning accordingly,' Paul Browne, a spokesman for
the department, said in an e-mail.
NYSE Euronext, Deutsche Bank AG and Bank of New York Mellon
Corp. are among firms with operations in the area. Bank of
America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley and
Citigroup Inc. are among financial firms whose main offices
aren't on Wall Street.
Rich Adamonis, a spokesman for the NYSE, Duncan King of
Deutsche Bank, and Bank of New York's Ron Gruendl declined to
comment on the demonstration.
Protests also are planned for financial districts in
Madrid, Milan, London and Paris, according to a bulletin from
the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center
obtained by Bloomberg News. The NCCIC is part of the Department
of Homeland Security. Chris Ortman, an agency spokesman,
confirmed the bulletin's authenticity.
The mayor is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg
News parent Bloomberg LP.
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
David Scheer at
dscheer@bloomberg.net .