Twenty-four hours after being told they must vacate Perseverance Park, the Occupy Syracuse members were still camped out and rallying for their cause.

Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner told the occupiers Tuesday at 8 a.m. they had to leave the premises within 24 hours because they violated city fire codes by having propane tanks, space heaters and other electrical devices.

At 7:30 a.m., on the movement’s 109th day, a crowd of more than 50 people stood along the sidewalk in 20-degree temperatures, bundled in hats, gloves, coats and scarves, to chant and sing songs such as ‘Lean on Me.’ Several protestors displayed large cardboard signs with phrases such as ‘Just a ‘Miner’ setback’ and ‘If nothing changes, nothing changes’ written in permanent marker.

Minnie Bruce Pratt, a women and gender studies professor at Syracuse University, came down to the park and withstood the cold because she said the Occupy movement is a cause she believes in.

‘I thought it was very important to defend the right of public protest in Syracuse,’ she said.

Pratt said although this was one of the coldest demonstrations she has ever attended, she thinks it is particularly important to fight economic injustice in Syracuse because the poverty rate is about 30 percent in the city.

Just because the police try to stop it does not mean the movement will end, Pratt said. She said history proves that there are many positive things that can come from movements like this.

‘No matter what happens today, what people should know is that when we, as a people, go in motion against oppression, there’s huge potential for creative, positive solutions,’ Pratt said.

Maureen Curtin, an associate professor at the State University of New York at Oswego, has had a lot of experience in advocating and even organized an Occupy Oswego movement with her students in which they slept out on their Quad.

Curtin said she is upset with Miner’s decision to evacuate the occupiers.

‘I feel that this is an attack on dissent and democracy,’ she said.

Barrie Gewanter, director of the Central New York chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union, was also at the gathering. Gewanter said she was there to represent the union in supporting the protection of civil rights and nonviolent demonstration under the First Amendment. Occupy members contacted Gewanter about the eviction Tuesday.

Gewanter said protestors have attempted to converse with the mayor regarding the parameters of the movement for them to continue their occupation. The mayor was not willing to discuss the matter and made it clear she was sticking to her 8 a.m. deadline for eviction, Gewanter said.

‘The mayor has taken a sudden, unnecessarily harsh and, frankly, unreasonable action here. There is no immediate safety danger, and there has been clarity finally with protestors as far as the parameters for their structures and their content, and they’re happy to comply,’ she said. ‘But that’s not good enough for the mayor.’

Andy Mager, a member of Occupy Syracuse and a member of the Syracuse Peace Council, said he is also extremely upset with Miner’s decision.

‘I was outraged. I thought it was a complete turnaround from her previous attitude,’ he said.

Risa Cantu C’DeBaca, a senior women and gender studies major at SU, has been involved with the movement since its third day. She said although it’s unfortunate, there is some good that can come out of the situation.

‘As much as it pisses me off, I’m actually happy that they’re doing this,’ she said. ‘It’s another way for us to all get together and build up more momentum and fight against Mayor Miner and everyone in Syracuse going against us. So honestly, it’s just a way to make us stronger.’

Other SU students came to the rally to support Occupy Syracuse due to the similarity of the movement’s ideas with other activist organizations they were involved in. Maria Blondet, a freshman psychology major, attended due to her previous involvement with Occupy Wall Street.

‘I haven’t been involved with Occupy Syracuse very long, but I’ve been to Occupy Wall Street a couple of times,’ she said. ‘They have the same messages of telling the government to stop inequality.’

Alejandro Ciordia, a junior political science major and resident of Madrid, is studying at SU as part of a one-year exchange program. He attended the movement because of its similarities to protests that have been taking place in Spain since May.

‘It’s the same thing — the same ideals and the same problems and the same activities that are happening over there, so I think it’s a good opportunity to support Occupy Syracuse,’ he said. ‘Even though I’m not American, the same ideas can be worldwide.’

When 8 a.m. came around, Mager said people expected the police to show, but they didn’t.

At about 9 a.m., many of the occupiers decided to march down to City Hall, chanting things like, ‘We are the 99 percent,’ ‘Hell no, we won’t go’ and ‘Stand up, fight back.’

While others waited back at the park, the general feeling among the crowd was that the police would most likely show up unannounced during the afternoon.

Curtin said she wasn’t surprised the police did not show at 8 a.m. like people anticipated. She said it’s not uncommon for authorities to say they are going to show up one time, and then show up at a different time to catch people off guard.

Curtin said she thought the police were probably waiting for the number of people gathered in the park to die down so they wouldn’t have to try to manage such a large crowd.

Kaitlyn Shanahan, an Occupy Syracuse member, was not surprised.

‘They’re gonna want to wait until the media and our numbers clear out. I mean, we were initially expecting them to come at either 4 a.m. or in a couple hours,’ she said. ‘I’ve been here for months. I don’t plan on moving.’

At press time, occupiers remained in the park and authorities had not yet forcibly removed them

snbouvia@syr.edu

meltagou@syr.edu 

Published on January 18, 2012 at 12:00 pm