The Occupy Movement and the Accountability Question

What does accountability look like?

This was one of the many complicated questions that came up at a panel discussion about the Occupy Wall Street movement that WNYC host Brian Lehrer moderated at the Jerome L. Greene Performance Space in lower Manhattan on Tuesday, Nov. 1. Former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer; Crain’s New York Business contributor Greg David; Occupy Wall Street organizer Jesse LaGreca, who blogs at the Daily Kos and Kathryn Wylde of the Partnership for New York City, who is deputy chair of the New York Federal Reserve’s Board of Directors, certainly offered a variety of opinions and insights into the grassroots movement that has increasingly captivated the country in recent weeks. The panelists agreed that economic inequality in this country is unacceptable, and they suggested to varying degrees that the so-called 99 percent are justifiably angry at corporate America and their surrogates on Wall Street and on Capitol Hill.

Democracy is not an neatly packed form of government as a stroll through the Occupy Wall Street encampment in Zuccotti Park near Ground Zero earlier today literally proved—corporate money in American politics, war, unemployment and even civil rights were among the topics to which Occupiers drew attention. One can certainly argue that dissent is the highest form of patriotism. The question remains, however, whether organizers within the Occupy movement are able to offer tangible solutions to the country’s social, economic and political inequalities that can effectively hold the powers that be accountable.

The answer is as complicated as the form of government under which the Occupy movement is able to expand.

An Evening in the Post-Bin Laden Era

The seemingly most mundane things can certainly prove the most symbolic.

Those who were chatting with their friends in Union Square Park or walking to the gym along 14th Street, straphangers who were rushing to catch the subway and pedestrians who were talking on their cell phones while walking on University Place earlier this evening proved once again that the best way to combat terrorism is to not be afraid. This lesson remains particularly appropriate following Osama bin Laden's death.

Postcards from Manhattan

It was a beautiful afternoon to stroll through Manhattan. Here are some snapshots from West 28th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues in the Flower District and Union Square.

A Tuesday night on the subway

Here is a list of some of those who rode the subway from 125th Street in West Harlem to Jefferson Street in Brooklyn between 8 – 8:45 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 28.

- Two butch-femme couples of color
- A man with a waxed moustache who had a tattoo on his chest
- A father and his 20-something son, wearing yarmulkes
- A journalist who needs to stop feeling sorry for himself
- A middle aged white woman with curly red hair, wearing shin-high black boots with two straps
- An Asian man with a Whole Foods bag
- A young woman wearing a Leukemia and Lymphoma Society t-shirt and black stretch pants
- A young Latino man cruising for sex

Just another Tuesday night on the New York City subway…

A Saturday afternoon in the five boroughs

This morning's gloom is in stark contrast to yesterday's sun and pleasant breeze, but here are some random pictures I shot at a street festival on Eighth Avenue in Chelsea, in the Meatpacking District and on Knickerbocker Avenue here in Bushwick. Also attached is a raw video I shot on the J train as it traveled over the Williamsburg Bridge from Manhattan to Brooklyn.

Riding the J Train

The oft-maligned J train certainly doesn't garner the affection of those who take it into Manhattan every day, but this line does, however, afford some of the best views of the city as it passes over the Williamsburg Bridge. Here are two clips I shot yesterday afternoon.