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scott's sts on the file
jeff smith who's been uh...
well uh... uh...
involved in occupied sandy world for stopped yet and we spoke to were
jack rabbit uh... last friday who was talking about some of things that the
dat occupy
in conjunction i guess with three fifty dot org in some other uh...
organizations
well just jealous of you who
paldon occupy sandy and how did he get started
sealy id
gold you know some of the personal
contact them infrastructure left from
yeah occupy organizers from my year ago they continued to stay in touch it had
been working on
many other causes throughout the year that you don't really care about so
and i think they're almost most set up to
activate
and corrected situation or at a moment's notice and and begin this
sort of ad-hoc organization
and so what do you had
particularly in a part of brooklyn that did not suffer
and he hurricane damage and not lose power at all which was in
into sunset park
you had a lot of occupied people immediately start thinking you know
there's a lot of people close to hear red oak was devastate devastated
and obviously the outer boroughs
uh...
though the rockaway and staten island in particular
and so i think it's just something that after client become
really good at it and then the really ironic part of it is that
because the
the the little encampment from a year ago
those actual skills of taking indonesian that the people need and that sort of
quite a situation
for obviously quite suited to go to work on had been presented to it though
i think is a bit of a natural fit that the same time
there was a huge void that that occupy people stepped into because there really
wasn't a far as i could tell any
institutional support happening anywhere i think i think the first
i gave the path of the blackout might help without power
and every day would be going out just in manhattan
and he's done nothing there was no red cross response there was no fema respond
very little from the city and if you happen to be lucky enough to
be able to get power to get on the internet order here some of the the
mayor's press competent you got some information
but there was really no way connect the people that work
not online or they were literally trapped in their apartment and and
that's really where
occupied scenes
particularly adapted not only
using social media another
um...
electronic ways to get the word out but also to really
activate people in the street centered take volunteers literally door-to-door
and start doing that kind of and thing work
i mean it really was stunning amounts in the first like a couple days uh...
people were
uh... if you were a
on
in manhattan you were stocked on me and then and give you were in uh...
the any one of the bar us you're stuck there and literally because there was no
public transportation
what's which you know and when we talk about cert inform people
seems to me that there were multiple different ways you could do this you
leaf living
uh... even going around the email uh...
uh... you know we've seen
that the uh... the police department has the ability to broadcast over p_a_
systems mobile p_a_ systems
um... it
it was it was yuri their because districts that people were so isolated
that i think was hard
other people to realize
both the magnitude of the destruction and the lack of response
operator and talking
you know i i think they'll really kill because
when you hear response that was taken in terms of both
con edison and to restore power at least primarily to the island of manhattan
and then also the mph response
it to me it's a much more like they were priority involved with the antithetical
support
and the reason why you know how many people that fell by the way side
coney island and
rockaway and and staten island because they're primarily
um... hypnotic fluent
and you know if you could get out and check into hotel or you know to starting
to trina it's really
about the
the wealth inequality that in terms of relief efforts of the iterations
that in particular the elderly and in both cases it just seems like the mare
was a bit
uh... disinterested i mean i think that his
the flap a came around
his wanting to hold the new york city marathon was perfectly indicative
venkata petulant massage your ego doctor by watching
and
you know i think it's really
uh... more about the cities you know unwillingness to really
dude something i mean people a joke that if it'd been how can i tell you what a
kenyan unholy response you know poured into the city
and um...
you know again and it was a bull remarkable job to get the cities the
subways up and running again
in particular order that's pretty incredible it so i have to think that
what you know what it's all going on with the power outages in that the lack
of response particularly from
um... not just seema after that obviously cement some ways it's been
perhaps hollowed out her you know if you can really
the type of into using force the people think it is but that the cities a ***
mystery response
has been really so lacking
and although occupied done a remarkable job stepping in and they're still to
this day i think the feels like the primary responders
it's an enormous
logistical undertaking right
to try and do this and so what i found
you know even might help personally responding to me that this is a call
would go out and things would be needed and then by the time you got there
another carlos had already come in there are decaying you know we don't need
anything more
and though
it's out of this occupy was you know
perfectly set up like the best after management in the world it's just that
effort
and then the then probably the only thing that was being poured into that
and i think what use are particularly
on the lower east side and and other places source so many volunteers
professional outpouring of people wanting to donate thing if the payment
is our pocket by wall street
there is a genuine desire for people to
help other people
and when there's no other place spirit you know that i want to go
uh... i think that people
had a clear
you know it into two who really cares about it and ah...
i think that there is a lot
i wanna i wanna i wanna touch on uh... on the specific relief efforts in the
second and i also want to get back to this notion of
of
the sort of
quiet
network that occupy has built in the implications that going for it but i
want to stay on this moment about about bloomberg firm
and about the uh...
the
the uh... we m which is the opposite of era merging senior management id there's
uh... harris egos written a piece in the daily beast i think he went out to
staten island in was uh...
actually looking into it
you know doing some reporting on them
on what's happening with the early a m
uh...
but but i will be able to understand this for second i mean i didn't realize
that the marathon was was happening ad
in a million years that we could go i would have been able to tell you that it
was having this weekend and when i saw that they were actually going to still
have
have the marathon highly
it was also
those things like i couldn't even certificate
digest this
that as i was a joke is connected is unbelievable one we can you imagine for
a moment
and because we have now
hundreds of thousands without power azad as of this saturday and even today we we
have
pretty close to that
uh... in the outer boroughs we have people in public housing surrounded by
people in private housing who have uh... ah have power but the public housing
does not we have the elderly still stuck in in in homesick
in in we'll hopefully we have been able
people have been able to be reached
but the idea
that bloomer were gone the high hes
uh... the marathon if say for some reason inexplicable as it could be
huge chunk of the upper east side was without power and people were oddly
unreachable
uh... or the idea that if battery park was still a somehow without power and
they were caught off from the rest of the city
indian
implicating
the running of the marathon the idea that that would still be hauled iska
impossible to imagine
it's completely impossible the level of not only to rant here jeff foe
polyethylene and was willing to do it in a deep but the the low
level of complete
disregard
these people is stuck
i mean just
stunning
elya right there and in fact norbert papers i think that the dander
the post both had images
thankful generators central park there were there to keep the runners and the
press covering the marathon warm
and literally that four hundred homes in
you know staten island could've been power with those same generators
and you know the idea that that the mayor privately-run urethral five
boroughs
and started in
bad-mouth included even the follow-up
okay setting up and starting this enormous road rage
literally on the doorstep to people who are still without power and who've many
who've lost everything and are now gilbert homeless
is just really started it's like a
but not all that you probably wouldn't even believe
well i did one that bloomberg didn't go and ask the sponsors in az the volunteer
since eight all this work if you're planning to do
can we we already had this
set up the generators for people start again i uh... some type of flu feeding
station you're planning on giving all these people water were running
given to the people can't who can't take it wouldn't go running water from their
apartments and that's
mail that there are reports of people who were in hotel rooms because they
were displaced sandy being kicked out because marathon runners guessing if not
a town had presentations i mean it's just
hardest
uh... aidid
it's it's just so hard to absorb it it doesn't return to sap leave the
secretary cell there now
um...
the that is a man
let's let's move on to the sort of the more specifics
what is it that occupies and is doing right now
uh... and where are some of the areas where
uh... where which are of the greatest concern
well there are number are below the primary hub right now unit
brooklyn adventure sculpt thank you carl b_ which is in sunset park
and that's operating it through the main storage area where people pampering
donations and then there's sorted
and and teams are sort of sent out
win individual behavior identified and people go out and cars
and uh...
are mobilizing to people there's other similar types of
spot like that now that i popped up as well and clinton hill
uh... if you go to the did a a website interactive alright dot net
splash occupied candy that had alibi locations on there
um... i think you would like to talk to you by sandy dot com yahoo womanizer
wagner
uh... became
and he'll find there but basically what happens is you can go there
and you get a better than orientated end and then you'll be sent out to be there
with other people without cars
and did not only really addicted to supplied ed
pinkwater think like that the people need
but it's also physical labor
and so people are actually did
taking clean supplies with them and going for a day and going house-to-house
helping people
cleanup so it's
if that level of effort that it really is men up our intensive
so um...
another area that was obviously really
hard hit
that nearby new york city's is in red hook
and although it's not flooded anymore
basically everything in the entire cities ruden so if you can imagine
every apartment to all the furniture soaking wet builder to that sort of
thing so it's an enormous cleanup project
still going on there
and then you know that the rockaway it and staten island still are are two of
the
primarily non-party areas
and though there are specific initiates setup
uh... at both of those locations
but until people should either trying to go to the main
uh... in brooklyn
sunset park
or and or at the very least ryan died
get their information directly from people again party thing is is logistics
and making sure that not too many people are going to want played tonight
lessons are a left stranded so uh...
there's a lot of hot meal bidders
they're being prepared to go for these people and delivered to the kidnapper
um... by volunteers that-that's something that
you know fema and and to the other institutional support tried to deliver
what are these
government issue emergent rations richard not exactly where people are
looking for after being in the dark for a couple of weeks ago
even just the haha comfortable meal and flashlights with batteries his it's
really important to these people who've been you know basically they're waiting
it out and i as i found out
you know we didn't lose power in here
going through it for a long period of time keeps accepted days sort of
humility
and though the longer it goes really the harder it yet so
that the people now
now that are going to take the next week or two weeks or three weeks without
power
potentially
id really get even harder for those people so
the idea that now that uh... that but the
rescue effort
art mostly over it is
probably rock right now i think it's becoming more urgent for people that
property
perhaps
wait it out or didn't want to have to go daddy
a lot of these high-rise buildings
was without the power old people cannot
get up and down that something other than people don't fully understand i
mean you've got people you've got uh...
seventy five-year-old in here all
uh... eighty five-year-old
are living on the fifteen th floor of these buildings i mean what would you
know what are they gonna do uh... you have people who are who use walkers
uh... mean this is the thing that i think people donnerstag zip and that
uh...
people are literally trap their and
uh... without the capacity to get to get down it really is uh...
stunning and and so
what let me ask you this in terms of just religious text
air feeder locations to send supplies to uh...
two thousand are there
or um... distribution as centers
uh... anne and b
are there specific supplies that are
most in need
now
as opposed to
what was in need five days ago and other words like a kind of some areas they're
asking for
um...
high-capacity and strong uh...
contractor backs
for instance because to do that clean up
uh...
in are there is a saying
uh... no more clothes we've got as much close as we can sort of absorb at this
point
uh... other places saying more batteries and uh...
uh... of flashlights do you have a sense of that is that something we'll get from
the uh... the website
uh... it but particularly really in
um... pretty fluid changing
um...
i got laid on those reports as well i think that
the upcoming
winter weather and and particularly the story to the people or or worried about
is making the need for
blankets and when warm
winter coats think like that obviously more pressing
than they will were before
and i think that
if i would like to keep batteries and flashlights were always at a premium
uh... you know and close one of the power to continue to be going out
where it is that it let the parties out but i think those items listening to
handle tick tick
to provide light
uh... both continue be important
but com it definitely is it shifted and i think that
you know you get a big drop off of
weather from the national guard at them spotted although sudden you don't have
to bring water there but
uh...
so yes i would definitely stayed at its most helpful to try and get it
either uh... an actual address or location saying i'd you know they need a
particular
uh... item
or two
you don't look up your car with a that they've got a bunch of the things and i
had out on your own and and
they really you can go door-to-door it grabs people like you will find people
that have not
had anyone contact them or
would have been unable to get any kind of help
so if you know
i think uh... it is not good really
graphic of
of occupied as well as sort of d i y um... including and that the first time
people that want too
volunteered away that's a little bit more structured
it somewhat harder and i think some of the
centers even had people sort of standing around not really knowing what to do
but if you really want to jump in
and yet they could not head-first you at the workload increased supplied and boat
up your car and you know get to work and so
definitely japanese people go to one of you can take place that they did not
bumpy patch poland and
trying to take out an actual stopping to think of me again and go do it and
that's really
blood-typing stadium in particular support of into cattle people don't want
uh...
put forward or phone number tied up for something they actually want
stockton someone to show up and and and help them and and i found
that everywhere that i went
helping people you've got at least pat
that personal knowledge that the people were being helped so um...
leslie and
there is a uh... on amazon basin occupy sandy and knocked by sandy's wedding
registry
uh...
what what do you know about this we have a link to it on our side as one day
you'd get a sense of
um...
what uh... what your senses of it
uh...
you know i i eat
i thought that as well and i think that uh... away for people to obviously tryin
convert their money into something specific but they don't people will be
using i think
you know there's been a lot of money to be it's been great even back if i can t
and it's really hard to figure out how to
you don't turn that money into into real help
and so i think the closer you can get to actually
bringing something to one of these locations or even yourself
volunteering
way more valuable at this point right on
but i mean obviously summits livin in california is their value uh... let me
do we know enough about this uh... registry
um... that
we could feel confident that if the is you know
some uh...
blankets
or video contracting bags or
flashlights
toothbrushes
that that it's gonna get to the right place
i mean i i don't know personally head up about it dot to prevent level definitely
being road biking occupied baby
you know sources but i've been thing and working through so
i did the very least may i be far more comfortable
donating to so that i would be to returning to the the red cross
or uh...
uh... one of those type of thing
organizations and i mean i don't know if you heard specifically the staten island
borough president
actually excoriate the red cross and tell people specifically dot to give the
money to themselves yeah i think they made up
uh... after that but that right but as you know medicine that yes i mean the
you know
one never knows but i mean if these the same people indigenous
um...
you know fa caveat emptor folks but i think
you know it's pretty clear if you're buying uh...
blankets toothbrushes
and uh... stuff that you know really will have an immediate direct impact on
people
uh... another positive sending direct supplies that gas is still very scars
here
so they'll get them status that you get them
thanks if you get the media
you get them this applies directly to them at amazon spend the money getting
them their and then there have to use that money to get to the store
yes and so uh... what what that link up their uh... uh...
and we've we've routed through the majority report delinking obviously will
kick all that back into
uh... buying stuff through there so
uh...
you know it which got adjust two more minutes jeff
one of the things that's really interesting about this is it shows uh...
aside from the the the great work that is happening
it shows that this network that was set up by occupy has
has
not just a real utility but real um...
strength
and that dairies
are did it's not as if
the occupying the
movement just faded into the ether is on the ground
doing more
uh... my think grind it out work that i think down it down the road is gonna pay
dividends
are you doing and i think it's a it's ironic that
represented occupiers were
to becoming involved in electoral politics
what their real strength is is almost
morse code before grassroots politics right and then at some point
that network become developed enough
it could turn into you know real kind of political power
it could be expected in any way and uh...
you know i'm not going to make an and
through tying into the issue of fee
election
i know
angelino your position in the where you are relative to the
the max colors of the world in terms of supporting a palm up from the left
but you know i think the one point that maybe have another sport is that
to me what
ando bon the administration really does is
it's separate out the true
and a progressive voices from
the that from the partisan
mhm so
that loan
i think it valuable
communal c
you know when any of these issues come up where we're talking about
two different systems for the rich in for the poor it's interesting to c
which people are going to wind up on obama's side verses the actual
you know ideological consistency
and so you know if we had a a john mccain presidency right now you told me
that the on msnbc
you know negative drone warfarin you hear all about
you know how you
shredding the constitution but then it goes away within about a administration
and so
i think that the grassroots side of of occupied austria also
potentially the way that you can the true
splitting off uh...
apart inside of of the democratic party from
you know the the genuine tighter that the left the true left side
and that that is you know open that we the endgame
forum
a-changing
in electoral politics and until then
i think you have to still
put up with with obama i think
i couldn't i couldn't agree with that assessment more jeff smith thanks so
much for coming in and in talking to us about what's going on there and uh... if
you have any updates please let us know and we'll put on the blog we'll talk
about it