Small group of Occupy Newark protesters brave cold for cause's sake; overnight plan unclear

[FarCenter]

NEWARK — They planned for weeks. They petitioned city hall. They even brought extra mittens.

But as 9 p.m. approached this evening, it was unclear if the 30 or so protesters of Occupy Newark were going to give up their barely-begun occupation of Military Park. Police said they plan to enforce a curfew that forbids anyone from sleeping overnight in the city park.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/11/small_group_of_occupy_newark_p.html

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Occupy Newark? Would anyone care?

[RavensChick]

1. Sadly, no.

Of all the times I've been to Newark over the last 25+ years the main thing I've seen are residents trying to survive. Things really have not changed over the years, and they are ever so slow to upgrade the downtown area (adding a arts center is not helping much), and quite frankly most of Washington, DC are light years ahead of them IMHO.

If they're gonna occupy anything they should start at City Hall and go from there. Believe me, the citizens of Newark, including most of my relatives, can benefit from decent services (housing, health care, transportation, crime reduction, social services, etc.) so they can stop being neglected and left in the cold. The time has come for real change up there, and this can serve as a starting point.

[Kahuna]

2. The problem isn't Newark downtown, which isn't as dire as you suggest..

The problem is the site of Miltary Park which is also known as, "Needle Park." Guess why. Also, I can't imagine people wanting to sleep overnight in any park in Newark.

Another problem with the selection of Newark to do the protest is that Newark is hardly representative of economic excess. Not many millionaires live in Newark. (if any)