Local Occupy group refocuses amid weather, eviction

Occupy. According to Time magazine, it is the word for the year 2011. It's fitting, considering the media attention the Occupy Movement garnered when it spread across the country and became a daily fixation for news outlets. But after such a strong beginning, the movement seemed to fizzle out as winter approached. Many occupiers are taking this lull period to regroup and plan for a stronger 2012; Occupy Poughkeepsie is no exception.

Dec. 7, 2011 marked the removal of Occupy Poughkeepsie (OP) protestors from Hulme Park after a police warning issued on Dec. 1. The occupiers were told by City of Poughkeepsie officials that they could not be in the park between the hours of 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.

The curfew in Hulme Park could be petitioned to be repealed, and some protestors mention that the current political make-up of the town council could work in their favor. However, occupier Katia Chapman '12 said, "Some council members are in support of OP, some really want us gone."

This legal channel would be the only one that OP would consider. Another option, a council-approved temporary stay in the park (which a councilwoman informally offered to OP before their eviction) is completely off the table. "We're a revolutionary movement," Chapman said. "We're not going to negotiate a date that we'd leave by."

Of course, Occupiers could ignore the law, but the action would be futile. "If we set up camp now, the city council would absolutely tear it down," Chapman said. While there are protestors willing to attempt to re-occupy, building up a campsite protected against winter cold would be too costly.

Another Vassar student, Spencer Resnick '15, said, "I don't think that the refocus is to occupy, because actually occupying [Hulme Park] isn't what we think is necessarily the most important thing."

Arguably, forced mobilization has given OP the opportunity for evolution. Without a physical base, occupiers have taken to canvassing and working with already existing activist groups that already have established organization and resources. "We're starting to see signs of this cross-pollination, relationships being built and activist coalitions forming around and with Occupy," Resnick said.

He even sees this forced change as an inevitability. "From the beginning, we knew this just can't be 15 to 20 people spending the night in a park that people use ... We asked ourselves, ‘How do we make this a movement instead of an interesting thing to do?' That was happening before the eviction, so the eviction just pushed us harder."

Patrick Quinn, one of the original Occupy Poughkeepsie protestors, shared this sentiment, "Physical occupation isn't necessary. We're moving on."

Despite this, during a General Assembly meeting, the phrase "When we're back in Hulme Park" is bounced around so frequently that it sounds like a promise.

"Our presence in the park was valuable because at least people knew that something was going on and that people were there," Alexandra Deane '15 explained.

Without the park encampment, OP is limited to three General Assembly meetings a week at changing locations. Though OP posts the locations of each meeting on its website and Facebook page, some locations are not as central as Hulme Park. Also, although community members have been generous in lending out spaces for the protestors, some discussions are capped by a closing time.

There are also the unexpected consequences of full-time occupation to consider. In the words of occupier Ryan Simpson, "[The occupation] opens your eyes to a lot of issues that we don't usually care about."

That the local movement in Poughkeepsie is the smallest registered Occupy branch bolsters this sentiment. "Occupations in small towns are more realistic," Michael Prentice-Glasgow '15 said. "They're not idealistic like the Wall Streets or Oaklands. They make the struggle real for us, even if they're just six people in a tent."

OP goes to painstaking efforts to lead by example, which is exemplified by the fact that anyone who came to the encampment, regardless of his or her involvement, got fed. While food is still given out during this mobile OP, a lot of the food gathered at Hulme Park was given by bystanders who were both impressed and concerned about the daring required to spend a night in a tent.

Re-occupation does not even have to be in Hulme Park. During an open forum, the possibility of occupying the New York State Armory, which is across Hulme Park and currently unused, is discussed.

But will OP re-occupy?

"Almost assuredly," Chapman said. "We will be back in the park in spring. Full time. Whether or not that's in accordance with the law."