Wall Street May Be Blocked Off Again as Police Monitor Protests

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Demonstrators rally at Bowling Green park in lower Manhattan on Saturday. Photographer: Ramin Talaie/Bloomberg

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Police officers guard the bull sculpture at Bowling Green park. Photographer: Ramin Talaie/Bloomberg

New York City police may limit access to Wall Street for a third day, requiring workers and residents to show identification, after a weekend of protests targeting financial firms.

The arrangements, including the identification requirement, “will be re-assessed” this morning, Paul Browne, a police spokesman, said in an e-mail.

About 300 to 400 people demonstrated near Chase Manhattan Plaza yesterday, down from 1,000 on Sept. 17, for a protest dubbed “#OccupyWallStreet.” A smaller group, followed by a column of police motorcycles, marched uptown on Broadway as people beat drums, strummed guitars and held up signs reading “end corporate welfare” and “we are too big to fail.”

The demonstration aims to get President Barack Obama to establish a commission to end “the influence money has over our representatives in Washington,” according to the website of Adbusters, a group promoting the demonstration that asked protesters to occupy Wall Street “for a few months.”

“People have a right to protest, and if they want to protest, we’ll be happy to make sure they have locations to do it,” New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Sept. 15 at a press conference. “As long as they do it where other people’s rights are respected, this is the place where people can speak their minds, and that’s what makes New York, New York.”

Police partitioned Wall Street’s pedestrian walkway throughout the weekend, preventing the protesters from gaining a toehold there.

Protest Area

The city established a protest area on Broad Street and Exchange Place, adjacent to the New York Stock Exchange, that protesters elected not to use, Browne said. Employees and residents seeking access to Wall Street between Broadway and William Street were required to show identification, he said.

New York Stock Exchange owner NYSE Euronext (NYX), Deutsche Bank AG (DBK) and Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (BK) are among firms with operations in the area. Bank of America Corp. (BAC), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Morgan Stanley (MS) and Citigroup Inc. (C) are among financial firms whose main offices aren’t on Wall Street.

Rich Adamonis, a spokesman at NYSE Euronext, Duncan King of Deutsche Bank, and Bank of New York’s Ron Gruendl declined to comment on the demonstration.

Protests also are planned for financial districts in Madrid, Milan, London and Paris, according to a bulletin from the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center obtained by Bloomberg News. The NCCIC is part of the Department of Homeland Security. Chris Ortman, an agency spokesman, confirmed the bulletin’s authenticity.

The mayor is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP.

To contact the reporter on this story: Laura Marcinek in New York at lmarcinek3@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Scheer at dscheer@bloomberg.net.