Occupy Wall Street Counters Confiscation With Bike Powered Generators

October 28, 2011

In an attempt to freeze out and black out Occupy Wall Street, Mayor Bloomberg confiscated all electric generators. In response Occupy Wall Street is searching for replacement power including bike generators.
Bloomberg disguised his confiscation as a safety issue, “Our first two concerns are First Amendment and safety, and this was safety. People were courteous and understanding. The story of this morning is that there was no story.” However, it is not a coincidence that this raid was carried out just a day before winter weather is expected to arrive in the New York City area. What Bloomberg is doing is obvious. He is trying to both freeze out the protesters, and impose a blackout on their message.

Mayor Bloomberg has warned that the generators won’t be allowed back into the park, so a group of protesters have come up with a novel solution. New York City environmental action group, Time’s Up, is looking for volunteers and funds to help power the protests with bike generators. According to the Time’s Up website, “We’ve received funding for 5 bikes but need at least 5 more, and any donations above that will be used to build more energy bikes which will be sent to other occupations.” The bikes are already being used in some park locations, but with the generators gone more are needed.
Here is a video from Time’s Up:
The resourcefulness of these protesters should not be underestimated by anyone. When Bloomberg tried to evict the protesters because the park was dirty, they organized their own cleanup operation. Bloomberg who is the ultimate representative of the 1% in politics is pulling out all the stops in his attempt to silence the 99%.
Bloomberg can’t confiscate environmentally friendly green generators. Men and women on bikes powering the delivery of the message of the people just seems right. Check out Time’s Up, and see if you can give these folks a hand.
Bike generators won’t solve the whole problem, but they will give Occupy Wall Street a source of power that can’t be confiscated. The protesters are representing the interests of the 99%. Let’s make sure their message still gets delivered.

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9 Responses to Occupy Wall Street Counters Confiscation With Bike Powered Generators

mack on October 28, 2011 at 7:30 pm

Any possibility of using solar generators? No flammable smelly fossil fuel, no noise.

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- Reynardine on October 28, 2011 at 7:48 pm
  
  ¿Whaaaat? ¿In the concrete canyons of Manhattan? No way! I was whitern’ a raw drop biscuit all the time I lived there, because scarcely a solar ray reaches ground level. Try powering stuff with the hot air that comes out of (a) the subway gratings, and (b) City Hall.
  
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- Wendy Reed, AV Conservancy on October 28, 2011 at 9:17 pm
  
  Here is a great idea being used to charge phones and run computers in third world countries: http://www.toughstuffonline.com/
  
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Fivemark RBE on October 28, 2011 at 7:44 pm

KickStarter (dot) com might be a useful site to obtain funds for the ‘Bike Powered Generators’ project.

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Charles Terry on October 28, 2011 at 8:12 pm

Police may confiscate the bike power gens., too. Better to charge batteries offiste, like in you storage space, then bring batteries onsite and run them through inverters (you have to but them) to get AC power. Police can steal batteries and inverters but they are way cheaper than generators.

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Charles Terry on October 28, 2011 at 8:20 pm

Winter-ize! What is needed is a new garment that OWS people can wear that allows them to live and sleep outdoors regardless of coming cold weather. Closest now is a Snowmobile Suit, but it lacks integral pillows, helment, and mattress for sleeping on concrete. A new suit that fills these needs is possible and is a product opportunity for those now making snow-mobile suits. Get with it corps! Make money and help OWS!

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Sarah Jones on October 28, 2011 at 8:35 pm

talk about taking back the power….:-)

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Rick Shreiner on October 28, 2011 at 9:02 pm

When did you last see an old, overweight, TeaPartier riding a bike to produce power for their group ? ?
I’m guessing that it wasn’t yeesterday.
OWS is DWARFING the TeaParty. Keep up the good work.
Rick Shreiner
Stockholm, Sweden

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ibwilliamsi on October 28, 2011 at 9:51 pm

I LOVE these people!

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