Thursday, November 06, 2008

 

Obama Euphoria Seizes St. Marks Place Tuesday Night ...







































They brought flags and contrary to East Village tradition they didn't burn them . Amazingly they sang the national anthem .
Music blasted from windows and they danced euphorically on their fire escapes and in the street below .
Where the reveling crowd came from isn't clear ; it probably just formed naturally in the wee hours of the morning on St. Marks Place between avenue A and 1st avenue .
There was some damage done . The celebrants of Obama's victory walked and danced on the tops of cars and buses . They stopped traffic . The rear window of at least one car was broken . There were reports from police that there was other damage done to storefronts .
The police arrived around 2 AM Wednesday morning and formed their ranks . Several attempts were made by police brass using bull horns to speak to the throng requesting that it disperse . In one case several young Bacchantes mobbed a young captain with a bull horn , hugging him and subduing him . The captain laughed , the Bacchantes giggled and the captain returned to police lines. In the end the police effort to reason with the ecstatic throng of hundreds was fruitless ; no one moved , the celebration continued .
The police had brought their Orange Net . Deploying it they proceeded to sweep the street clear . Finally the crowd dispersed leaving the police in place for an hour or so .
Its not clear whether there were any arrests . Some witnesses claimed that they had seen some arrests .
We finally left the scene for Ray's Candy Store for an order of Obama Fries . Not surprisingly they tasted just like his Dollar Fries that we had eaten Monday night ,the night before the election .

































Comments:
great pics bob, as usual. i was already in union square by this time and missed the all-out madness. when i left st. marks, the cops were still being cool about it. great to see how it grew and grew.
 
Great photos, Bob!!
 
Definitely an incredible night. I am on Avenue B near 13th Street and people were going craaaaaaazy all night long.

Thankfully it seemed as if it was all peaceful, who knows what would have happened if it turned out the other way.

Great pics Bob.
 
got my Obama fries!!Yum-
 
More celebrating will probably ensue when old DUBYA departs...YAY!
 
Jeremiah ,the cops were not at all difficult to work with and they were mostly cool about it all . Damage was being done along the street so the police peaceably , respectfully cleared the street . The celebration had been allowed for several hours and the brass decided that it was time for it to end .

There were not, as far as I know ,any major problems on St Marks Place . Nothing like some of the roughness in Williamsburg .
 
When I left for work on wed am there was big pile of recycled cardboard in front of the Met on 2nd Ave between 6th & 7th, the pile had obviously been set on fire and then it had spread to at least the wheel and wheel well of a subaru wagon parked next to the pile...
 
i was on 8th street and 1st avenue at around 11:30 witnessing a similar event. jaded hipsters chanting "we've got our country back!" and "obama!" rhythmically over and over. it was amazing! and i'm glad you pointed out the flag waving--the flag waving blew my mind. i'm still processing it all.

great photos!
 
biker bill?bob? was the only jaded person i witnessed that night. he was leaning against a parked car in front of ray's. i heard him mutter "they're gonna be sorry."
 
Biker Bill's utterance may be prophetic .
 
Bob--what's been going on??been a week since your last post--and no coverage of the Court case yesterday re:3rd street people--I think it was sent back to Housing Court--and the people may have to wait longer to see what happens with them--or they made some kind of deal yesterday???
 
Ev Grieve has the update on the Court battle -all the remaining tenants are to be given $75,000.00 except an elderly person who will receive $175,000.00--
where will these people go??Homelessness is rising--I know close myself--it's pretty depressing--it's cold now and our friendly park friends--where do they go in the cold??We are human beings and deserve more rather than less
 
Bob,

What fantastic pictures you have shared with us all! I felt that I was in the midst of all the excitement! Keep up the fantastic job!
 
Bob,

What fantastic pictures! I felt that I was in the midst of the excitement; I was there hearing the sounds of jublilation! Keep on doing the things you do best; shooting and reporting!
 
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