A poster advertising the May Day protest. (Photo: OccupyWallStreet.org)
Protesters affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street movement have released a schedule of events for their big “general strike” planned for May 1 and it includes, a “meditation flash mob,” a “guitarmy,” a rally featuring the rap group Das Racist and Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello and an afterparty. The list of planned actions includes both permitted events and protests for which the Occupiers didn’t obtain permission from the City.
Occupy Wall Street is hoping May Day will mark their comeback after their eviction from Zuccotti Park last November and months of decreasing momentum. The schedule of May Day events does not include more secretive, guerilla actions Occupiers have been planning for various “targets in Midtown.”
The May 1 “general strike” has been heavily hyped by the Occupy movement and the day’s success or failure will almost certainly prove decisive in determining how people judge whether the movement can regain relevance after slowing down over the winter. One obstacle the Occupiers could face as they seek to stage their huge May Day protest is that, according to the weather forecast, it is expected to literally rain on their parade.
Read the Occupy Wall Street’s schedule for May 1 below. More info is available on OccupyWallStreet.org.
NYC MAY DAY EVENTS
99 Picket Lines
Midtown Manhattan
Community groups, unions, affinity groups and OWS
Various locations throughout the day
Pop-up Occupation with Mutual Aid (unpermitted)
8am–2pm, Bryant Park, Manhattan
Sitting Meditation
8–11am, Bryant Park (southwest corner), Manhattan
OWS Meditation working group
Bike Bloc
9am, Union Square, Manhattan
The Free University: Lectures, Workshops, Skill-Shares and Discussions
10am–3pm, Madison Square Park, Manhattan
Building Community Alternatives to Capitalism Day
11am–10pm, LaunchPad, 721 Franklin Ave., Brooklyn
Teach-in: How to Keep Your Cool and Occupy…Understanding Aggression
11am, Bryant Park (southwest corner), Manhattan
OWS Meditation working group
High School Student Walkout Convergence
12pm, Fort Greene Park, Brooklyn
Guitarmy: Guitar Workshop and Rehearsal with Tom
Permitted Gathering Space for May Day Festivities
12pm, Bryant Park, Gertrude Stein Statue (east side), Manhattan
OWS Music working group
Call2Create
art events all day throughout NYC
Wildcat March (unpermitted)
1pm, Sara D. Roosevelt Park (East Houston St. & 2nd Ave.), Manhattan
Meditation Flash Mob followed by Kirtan
1pm, Bryant Park (southwest corner), Manhattan
OWS Meditation working group
Day Without Workers/Día sin los Trabajadores: May Day March and Speakout
2pm, 5th Ave. at 54th St. in Brooklyn, marching to 36th St & 4th Ave. to take subway at 3:30pm to Union Square rally in Manhattan
Occupy/Ocupemos Sunset Park
Occupy Wall Street & Guitarmy March (unpermitted)
2pm, Bryant Park to Union Square, Manhattan
Solidarity Rally with Tom Morello, Dan Deacon, Immortal Technique, Das Racist, Bobby Sanabria and special guests (permitted)
4–5:30pm, Union Square, Manhattan
May First Coalition, Labor Unions and OWS
May Day Choir Convergence
5:15pm, Madison Square Park (in front of the fountain), Manhattan
Occupy the Rent Guidelines Board: A Tenants’ General Assembly
5:30pm, 7 East 7th St. (outside Cooper Union), Manhattan
Real Rent Reform Campaign
Solidarity March (permitted)
5:30pm, Union Square to Wall Street, Manhattan
May First Coalition, Labor Unions and OWS
Occupy Wall Street Afterparty
8pm, Wall Street area
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