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Occupy Oakland Takes New Park at 19th Street and Telegraph, 11/19/11: video & photos
Five days after being forcefully evicted from Oscar Grant Plaza for the second time by Oakland police and other Bay Area law enforcement agencies, thousands gathered at 14th and Broadway for a Mass Rally and March in support of Occupy Oakland and in solidarity with the National Day of Action Against State Repression of the Occupy Movement. The march wound through downtown past several banks before stopping to protest the scheduled closing of Lakeview Elementary School due to budget cuts. Marchers then headed back downtown to take the park at 19th Street and Telegraph Avenue as agreed upon by the Occupy Oakland General Assembly. Once at the park, demonstrators quickly pulled down the chain-link fence that surrounded two thirds of the park. Thousands of supporters flooded into the unnamed and unused empty lot, immediately setting up over a dozen tents and dancing as rain began to fall and music bumped from loudspeakers on a flatbed truck.
[Pictured above: the park shortly after occupiers claimed it for the next Occupy Oakland encampment. Click image for larger version.]
The park is part of the new commercial area now known as the Uptown District, built around a recently renovated and re-opened Fox Theater. In order to make way for the development of the area, the City of Oakland used eminent domain to take possession of at least two long-time businesses so that their property could be handed over to the large private developers who would build the Uptown apartment complex. It is not clear why only the internal one third of the new park was landscaped for public use while the larger portion touching Telegraph Avenue was left fenced off, but some have speculated that developers and the city intended to let the plot fallow until a time when the Uptown area was further gentrified and fewer undesirable people would be making use of the land during the day or sleeping there at night. Map of the park: http://g.co/maps/bvqap.
For more information:
The park is part of the new commercial area now known as the Uptown District, built around a recently renovated and re-opened Fox Theater. In order to make way for the development of the area, the City of Oakland used eminent domain to take possession of at least two long-time businesses so that their property could be handed over to the large private developers who would build the Uptown apartment complex. It is not clear why only the internal one third of the new park was landscaped for public use while the larger portion touching Telegraph Avenue was left fenced off, but some have speculated that developers and the city intended to let the plot fallow until a time when the Uptown area was further gentrified and fewer undesirable people would be making use of the land during the day or sleeping there at night. Map of the park: http://g.co/maps/bvqap.
For more information:
For more information:
http://www.indybay.org/occupyoakland
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"Thousands of supporters " ??
why inflate the numbers? there were a few hundred, not thousands.
And the site at 19th and telegraph was a parking lot - is that the small business enterprise you are so concerned was taken through eminent domain?
The colonization of this lot by some misguided OO people was a waste of time and a diversion from the real work the movement needs to do.
and the crappy pop musak the polluters with the sound truck blared was a further distraction as people celebrated the 'revolutionary' act of invading a working class neighborhood.
why inflate the numbers? there were a few hundred, not thousands.
And the site at 19th and telegraph was a parking lot - is that the small business enterprise you are so concerned was taken through eminent domain?
The colonization of this lot by some misguided OO people was a waste of time and a diversion from the real work the movement needs to do.
and the crappy pop musak the polluters with the sound truck blared was a further distraction as people celebrated the 'revolutionary' act of invading a working class neighborhood.
it was two auto-related businesses on 20th street. here's a corporate report found in about 10 seconds. surely, you could find more if you bothered to look.
the uptown developers bought and were given several city blocks, as well as large tax incentives, so that the area could be gentrified. zoning ordinances were changed to chase out several medical marijuana dispensaries that collectively were known as "oaksterdam" on Telegraph.
there used to be a sears auto service center on Telegraph where the "park" is now. through city pressure, sears sold that to the developer rather than being eminent domained out of its property.
not so sure about your description of the shining new "neighborhood" - better known as a large apartment complex. originally, the Uptown apartments were actually slated to be pricey condos, sold separately, definitely not affordable to anyone from the area. but the market tanked before the project was completed and the developers had to scale back their profit forecasts when those condos had to be rented instead. same with the other smaller project that went up at Broadway and Grand, originally intended as condos. as for the Uptown apartment complex being "working class", that's questionable considering the rents charged at the Uptown apartments versus the rents charged for other apartments in the area. it's apparent that the city and developer were looking to *upscale* the area, not make it more accessible for people who are traditionally thought of as working class. just because someone has a job does not make them working class. most working class people cannot afford to live in the Uptown apartments, where a tiny 500 square foot studio starts at about $1500/mo currently.
but you have your giant "champions of humanity" sculpture to ease your conscience and OPD to chase away the type of people those "champions" once championed. ironies abound.
if you are going to throw about words like "colonization", especially considering the history of the newfangled concept of the "uptown" district, at least know your history before you speak next time. if you yourself are an invader from elsewhere and don't personally know the area's history - even though it only takes a google search or two and you don't have to go back more than a few years - then it's probably best for you not to accuse others of being colonizers.
the uptown developers bought and were given several city blocks, as well as large tax incentives, so that the area could be gentrified. zoning ordinances were changed to chase out several medical marijuana dispensaries that collectively were known as "oaksterdam" on Telegraph.
there used to be a sears auto service center on Telegraph where the "park" is now. through city pressure, sears sold that to the developer rather than being eminent domained out of its property.
not so sure about your description of the shining new "neighborhood" - better known as a large apartment complex. originally, the Uptown apartments were actually slated to be pricey condos, sold separately, definitely not affordable to anyone from the area. but the market tanked before the project was completed and the developers had to scale back their profit forecasts when those condos had to be rented instead. same with the other smaller project that went up at Broadway and Grand, originally intended as condos. as for the Uptown apartment complex being "working class", that's questionable considering the rents charged at the Uptown apartments versus the rents charged for other apartments in the area. it's apparent that the city and developer were looking to *upscale* the area, not make it more accessible for people who are traditionally thought of as working class. just because someone has a job does not make them working class. most working class people cannot afford to live in the Uptown apartments, where a tiny 500 square foot studio starts at about $1500/mo currently.
but you have your giant "champions of humanity" sculpture to ease your conscience and OPD to chase away the type of people those "champions" once championed. ironies abound.
if you are going to throw about words like "colonization", especially considering the history of the newfangled concept of the "uptown" district, at least know your history before you speak next time. if you yourself are an invader from elsewhere and don't personally know the area's history - even though it only takes a google search or two and you don't have to go back more than a few years - then it's probably best for you not to accuse others of being colonizers.
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