Joy at Occupy New Paltz
I live in the Town of New Paltz, which encircles and encloses the Village of New Paltz. In the Village there is a lovely park, called Hasbrouck Park, that has a baseball diamond, excellent playground, and pretty gazebo.
The park had been "occupied" for several months, with sexual assault, garbage, drumming circles, and the usual silliness.
At the beginning, the Mayor of the Village of New Paltz supported the Occupiers, giving them a free electric hookup from Village Hall across the street. The Mayor, named Jason West, became somewhat famous several years ago when he "married" a host of gay couples in New Paltz in contravention of NY State law at that time. Mayor West is an enthusiastic Occupier, having participated in the Wall Street games as well.
Several times, the Village Board has expressed their great joy at having a local Occupy movement, and encouraged citizens to visit and bring soup, or stay overnight and get some learnin' from the youthful enthusiasts.
However, the joy was not shared by St. Joseph's Church, also seen in the satellite image, which has some very nice toilet facilities in their Parish Center which have been soiled by the homeless and grubby tent-dwellers.
Nor has the love been felt by parents afraid to take their little tykes to the park to play at the playground -- the stench, garbage, and crime are troubling to anyone with a brain.
This past week, even Mayor West had had enough. The police evicted the last tents from the park the other day.
West declared, "It is my personal opinion that the Village Board has bent over backwards in every possible way for you, and at every turn you backed us into a corner. I went to the Park six times last week, and not once did I see another human being from the Occupy movement. I saw no political action, no workshops, no speeches. But what I did see were parents who told me they were frightened to have their children play at the park, some of whom said that they wanted their children to learn more about the movement, but that people there just slept in their tents all day. This is not a movement, but has become camping out in a public park."
Wouldn't you agree that the children who saw the "movement" learned plenty about it from what they saw?
I can't stop chortling to myself. Common sense wins out. Even in New Paltz...
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Mar '11
Re: Joy at Occupy New Paltz
Stuart Creque
Percival
Workers World Party? The Wobblies are still wobblin' about? I thought they went out with the St. Louis Browns. · 3 minutes ago
I am not certain that the WWP is the same as the IWW. I believe the WWP is affiliated with the Communist International. · 2 hours ago
I think you're right, Stewart. The IWW is still around and that is who I was thinking of.
And thanks for the strip, Mama Toad! I really miss that strip. Funny from the first to the last.
And Doonesbury hasn't been funny except by accident since the Carter Administration, and it's still around. Go figure.
Feb '11
Re: Joy at Occupy New Paltz
ParisParamus: New Paltz is kind of a low-rent version of Berkeley; there's a minor NY state university center
I was just writing to someone, a very nice interesting woman about possibly getting together. She mentioned about all the NO FRACKING signs in New Paltz, then my non-liberalness came out.
Some of us here in New Paltz might quibble with your adjective "minor." It's not like there are so many SUNY schools, and this one is pretty sizeable.
I'll tell you that the other day on a local homeschool list I am on, another mom posted to encourage the rest of us NPaltzians to contact our representatives to oppose fracking. I wrote a clear response that if I did contact my reps, it would be to support fracking.
Several years ago, through the same homeschool group, we were asked to participate in a Planned Parenthood grrrl empowerment program designed especially for homeschoolers. I said that rather than participate, I would run as fast as I could in the opposite direction, carrying my children on my back if necessary.
We don't get a lot of playdates from the local homeschool community...
Nov '11
Re: Joy at Occupy New Paltz
Hi there, Mama T! Congratulations on the Return to Sanity...
Feb '11
Re: Joy at Occupy New Paltz
Percival
Stuart Creque
Percival
Workers World Party? The Wobblies are still wobblin' about? I thought they went out with the St. Louis Browns. · 3 minutes ago
I am not certain that the WWP is the same as the IWW. I believe the WWP is affiliated with the Communist International. · 2 hours ago
I think you're right, Stewart. The IWW is still around and that is who I was thinking of.
And thanks for the strip, Mama Toad! I really miss that strip. Funny from the first to the last.
And Doonesburyhasn't been funny except by accident since the Carter Administration, and it's still around. Go figure. · 3 minutes ago
You are welcome!
I probably violated some copyright by posting it though...
Feb '11
Re: Joy at Occupy New Paltz
Thanks! If it hadn't been snowing today, I might have headed out to the playground. It is really fun -- built in the days of pressure-treated wood before they worried about the arsenic or whatever...
Nov '11
Re: Joy at Occupy New Paltz
Congratulations, New Paltz, on the return to sanity! (Hi, Mama T!)
Jul '10
Re: Joy at Occupy New Paltz
Stuart Creque
Percival
Workers World Party? The Wobblies are still wobblin' about? I thought they went out with the St. Louis Browns. · 3 minutes ago
I am not certain that the WWP is the same as the IWW. I believe the WWP is affiliated with the Communist International. · 3 hours ago
I once saw a guy with a Wobblie placard at an anti-war rally in Washington. It said "We're still around!"
They must get that a lot.
May '11
Re: Joy at Occupy New Paltz
This whole OWS movement has been a real de ja vue all over experience for me. From my radical sit-in youth, the fondest memory I have is that night when all my other buddies had left to go to the beach since classes had been canceled for the obligatory protests and they left me with their blankets. The night turned really cold and sometime in the night I remember pulling the blankets up over my face to ward off the light rain that began to fall. I awoke at about 8 in the morning lying in a huge empty puddle and when I got up I realized I was the only person left on the quad. It was with out a doubt the best night of sleep I ever got.
Aug '11
Re: Joy at Occupy New Paltz
Why is it that each of these gents look as though they just rolled off the couch after a long hard day of drinking Pepsi and playing Xbox?