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Bloomberg Lied: Thousands Of OWS Library Books Missing, Feared Destroyed
An updated post from the Occupy Wall Street Library reveals that there are thousands of books missing. Only 25 boxes of books have been recovered so far, and many of those are destroyed.
The OWS library people who have been to the garage where their property was supposedly being safely stored are reporting that it looks like the Mayor’s office lied about the status of their property. According to the Occupy Wall Street Library, “There are only about 25 boxes of books; many of the books are destroyed. Laptops here but destroyed. Can’t find tent or shelves.” Another report, “Many books destroyed. Most equipment -and structures missing. . . most of library is missing (ALL of the reference section btw), damaged or destroyed. ”
From the Occupy Wall Street Library blog, “One of our librarians Zach came up with a partial list of what was taken (see below) and it’s looking like only a few boxes of books and our (destroyed) laptops and one chair were at Sanitation. Our people on the ground report that “A lot is destroyed . . . more may (or may not) be coming out of their giant trashpile at back of building.” But it’s obvious to me that by recklessly throwing the contents of the park into dumpsters, the NYPD and DSNY working under Bloomberg’s orders destroyed what we built. And that their claim that the library was “safely stored” was a lie.”
Among the unaccounted for library possessions are:
- Between 2,000 and 4,000 books (we’ll know if it looks right when we see it ), this includes five boxes of “Reference” materials many of which were autographed by the authors;
- 5 (4?) laptop computers;
- Our wifi device;
- Archival materials (I was starting to collect some stuff in the library);
- 7 (or so) chairs;
- a wooden dinner table (that was our’s right?);
- periodicals/newspapers/zines (not counted in our book total);
- our awesome tent;
Some of these items, like reference materials autographed by the authors, will be difficult to replace. The idea that a Mayor who has no respect for the First Amendment would for some reason respect the personal property of the protesters was odd yesterday, and is flat out laughable today.
I reported yesterday that over 5,000 books had been thrown in the trash in the raid. Other outlets believed the Mayor and claimed that the library was not thrown in the trash. It turns out that those folks made have made a mistake by believing Bloomberg. Michael Bloomberg has not been truthful about anything regarding Occupy Wall Street. The media should believe Mayor Bloomberg and his administration at their own risk.
Who knows the library may turn up safe and sound, but any rational person should find it difficult to believe that NYPD would worry about the protection of personal property during a raid. I suspect that, as reported above, the library is probably in a giant trash heap out back.
Let’s hope that the media has learned a valuable lesson.
The second richest man in New York (Mayor Bloomberg) serves the one percent first, and the truth second.
(This post will be updated as more information becomes available).
Image: Occupy Wall Street Library
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18 Responses to Bloomberg Lied: Thousands Of OWS Library Books Missing, Feared Destroyed
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Reynardine
Nov. 16th, 2011 at 1:40 pm
Wayall, yeah. Just because he isn’t a Dominionist doesn’t mean he isn’t a plutonomist.
bookmobility
Nov. 16th, 2011 at 2:05 pm
And even if the books do turn up safe, that’s a far cry from saying the library itself survived, as I discussed in a recent blog post:
bookmobility.tumblr.com/p...
Parvenu
Nov. 16th, 2011 at 9:46 pm
New York City should have the same responsibility as a landlord has to preserve and provide safekeeping for the possessions belonging to an evicted tenate whose personal possessions remain on the property after the eviction. In my state, the landlord must provide safe storage for the tenate’s possession for a period of up to a year before being allow to dispose of such property without any further responsibility to the former tenate. If New York has such a law, the OWS folks should pursue substiantial remedy in court for their personal possesions. After all they have the Mayor’s public assurances that these possessions would be placed in safe protected storage.
Dubliner
Nov. 16th, 2011 at 10:18 pm
Tenants pay rent.
Valerina
Nov. 16th, 2011 at 10:50 pm
Citizens pay taxes. not. rent.
Will
Nov. 16th, 2011 at 11:36 pm
You guys obviously didn’t read his post clearly. He’s not talking about tenants. He’s talking about tenates.
Peter Voth
Nov. 16th, 2011 at 10:51 pm
Zuccotti Park is a privately owned, publicly accessible park. The owner of the park is not a landlord, and OWS squatters are not tenants. A public park is not a residence, so the term “eviction” does not apply.
Jeff R
Nov. 17th, 2011 at 12:07 am
Let’s be clear about what Zucotti Park is and was. Originally it was a public park called Liberty Plaza Park. The park was heavily damaged in the 9/11 attack and in about 2055 was given by NYC to Brookfield Properties as part of a deal with the city to redevelop an adjacent piece of property with the understanding and obligation that Brookfield maintain the park as a “Privately Owned Public Space” (POPS). At which time the park was renamed Zucotti Park after Brookfield president John Zucotti (I thought it was named after a delicious Italian dessert).
I don’t know the details of the agreement, nor do I know the law regarding POPS, but it seems to me what we have is a gift of public property to a private for-profit corporation, which has now reneged on its contractual obligation to maintain the park for public use.
Jeff R
Nov. 17th, 2011 at 12:08 am
OOPS – make that 2005
Will
Nov. 16th, 2011 at 11:35 pm
Yeah! Who knew that keeping your things in a privately owned park would end with consequences! Outrageous, I say! Outrageous!
You know where I keep my autographed and hard to replace belongings? At my home. In a safe. Not in a tent. Not in a park. Not in a park which is privately owned. Not in a park where I have the common sense to know that eventually we’ll be thrown out and my belongings may be out of my sight or confiscated at some point.
Jared
Nov. 17th, 2011 at 1:44 am
Will,
On behalf of everyone that read your post, I want to thank you for the valuable information you provided on how you store and protect your autographed and hard-to-replace belongings. It was of course totally irrelevant to the article’s point, which was that the NYPD wantonly destroyed personal property for no reason and then the mayor lied about it. Nonetheless, I’m glad that you chimed in. I plan to store my autographed and hard-to-replace items in a safe at home and not in a park, because that just makes darn good sense.
Will
Nov. 17th, 2011 at 2:13 am
Jared, my point was more along the lines of “if it’s so damn valuable then don’t risk it by taking it to an event where you may be faced with not having it directly in your possession and then cry about it when it gets lost, stolen, or destroyed – even if someone said they think it was taken care of and that turns out to be false/a lie.”
Personally, I don’t really see this as being all that much different than me leaving a book on a bench and walking away from it assuming it will be there when I get back or that someone will take it to lost and found for me.
Furthermore, to assume the mayor lied about it assumes the mayor was informed correctly at every step which, if you want to assume the NYPD are a bunch of wanton thugs why would you assume they were being fully truthful in what they told the higher ups and the mayor?
Moreover, “We’ll know if it looks right when we see it” hardly constitutes a solid inventory. Ever heard of someone making an insurance claim after a break in where they claim a much more expensive something-or-other than they had? Happens a lot.
Jack Mingo
Nov. 18th, 2011 at 9:30 am
Will,
If I allow you into my house, a private place in which you don’t pay rent, I cannot legally steal your wallet and iPhone and wreck your car. Not even if you’ve worn out your welcome, not even if I call the police for them to escort you out. The police can temporarily confiscate them while you are in custody, but have to return them when you’re released. Even if you’re trespassing, using the opportunity to steal and wreck your stuff is legally and morally theft.
The books were marked, secured, and in good hands until the caretakers were taken away by people sworn to serve and protect. It’s not the same as leaving a book on a park bench.
barnaby flaherty
Nov. 18th, 2011 at 11:02 am
Will, since you don’t seem to grasp the basic concept of a library, I’ll spell it out for you: your private possesions are PRIVATE. You do not share them with the general public. The OWS library is a PUBLIC library, free and open to any members of the public who care to read, and that is precisely why it was in a publicly accessible place.
Shiva (Moderator)
Nov. 18th, 2011 at 11:48 am
you’re not serious are you? If you have private possession such as books and you decide to share them with people there is nothing wrong with that. I suppose you could extend what you’re saying to a side arm or a weapon, but we are talking about books. I have a very large library of different types of books and I would probably share 99% of them with anyone who asks.
Richard
Nov. 18th, 2011 at 8:46 pm
As someone who donated four books about Abraham Lincoln, among others, to the OWS library, I think we should sue NYPD for vandalism.